Conflicted
by Flames101
Summary: Emily and Morgan manage to find their way to each other. But getting together seems to be the easy part, and staying together proves to be more difficult, especially considering the obvious admiration and interference of a certain other co-worker. Derek/Emily/Rossi triangle. Companion to For You, Always- Need not have read to read this. Complete.
1. One Night Stand

**A/N:** Hey all from Lebanon! Hope everyone's summer is going great! Mine's been super hot. So anyways, here's the new story. If you haven't read For You, Always, that's ok, because this story is more of a companion then a sequel. It's the same story but Emily and Morgan's point of view and story. Hope you enjoy!!

**Disclaimer:** Nope, still haven't acquired the rights to Criminal Minds.

**Chapter 1: One Night Stand:**

Emily knew she'd had a little too much to drink but she didn't care, she was out to have a good time. She wasn't drunk, by far—she was pretty sure she still had her wits about her—but she did feel looser, freer. Hence her dancing at a club with strangers, while her friends danced close by, JJ with Will, Garcia and Kevin, and Morgan with a stranger of his own.

The team had just finished up with a particularly gruesome case that she didn't even want to think about anymore. All needed to unwind. Even Hotch and Rossi were sitting at a table having a drink with their resident genius.

Emily just let herself go to the rhythm of the music. Her current dance partner, a Latin man with great hair, was a great dancer; but she wondered vaguely if she could entice Reid or even Hotch or Rossi to give it a go.

She laughed out loud, now she knew she was done in the drinks department, knowing that if she hadn't had a drop she would never really consider dancing with her superiors. All she needed was to wake up the next day in bed with either of them.

Thanking her dancing partner, she knew it was time for some coffee. She passed by Will and JJ, laughing as they danced, generally having a good time. JJ mouthed to her asking where she was going. Emily shouted back that she was going for coffee.

Just as she was about to get off the dance floor she felt a tug on her hand. She was ready to turn around and let the guy know she wasn't interested. But when she did turn around she was surprised to see who the hand belonged to.

"Where are you off to?" Morgan questioned, pulling her close while swaying to the music.

All thoughts of coffee flew out of her head when she felt how close they were. She was surprised she was blushing. It _was_ only Derek Morgan, fellow FBI agent and good friend. But as his hands went to rest on her hips, pulling her further in to the center of the dance floor, he sure didn't feel like just her good friend.

She didn't know why his close proximity suddenly had such a pronounced affect on her. She'd been close to him many times, granted it was usually with guns in their hands, hunting down un-subs.

She had to protest. She didn't exactly know why, but she had to. What was she doing before he had snatched her up?

"I… I was going to grab…" she tried, not remembering what she was going to grab.

He stopped her anyways, taking her other hand. "Come on, dance with me."

She blushed again; luckily the room was dim enough so that he wouldn't notice. All she needed was for him to see the effect he was having on her, and have his ego inflate. Still she let herself be pulled into the crowd.

Luckily, or unluckily, she didn't know how to look at it just yet, the music switched to something a little slower, sultrier. And after a moments hesitation she began to match the rhythm of the music and the moves of Derek Morgan's very capable body.

The song seemed to go on and on, and she found herself not wanting it to end. She told herself that it was necessary to the dance to rub her body up against his, as well as his arms being all over her. It was just a dance, after all. But, she didn't recall Morgan getting this close to Garcia the few times she'd witnessed them dancing together. She pushed thoughts of scepticism out her mind as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

Morgan bent his head close to her ear and if the feel of his breath didn't shock her the words that came out of his mouth did. "Let's get out of here."

'Whoa,' Emily thought, stunned. 'Where did that come from?'

She pulled back to stare at him, sure that he was joking. He was one for practical jokes. But the intense stare coming from his dark chocolate eyes told her he wasn't kidding, not one bit.

What was he thinking? she wondered. They were colleagues, friends, nothing more. Those words weren't supposed to be coming out of his mouth. Well, neither were the ones that came out of her, next.

"Ok," she breathed out.

They began to walk off the dance floor together, headed for the exit, when she remembered something.

"Oh, wait, I've got to let Dave know I'm going," she spoke up.

Morgan raised an eyebrow.

"He was my ride here," she said sheepishly.

"Ok," he nodded. "I'll wait here."

Emily made her way back to the table they'd all been sharing, finding it occupied by Rossi, Reid, Hotch and now Garcia.

"Hey guys," she greeted, wondering why her voice still sounded so breathless.

"Hey girl," Garcia replied, in her usual cheerful way. "Saw you dancing with Derek, it was hot."

Emily couldn't help blushing, and she wondered very briefly if something was wrong with her ability to control her bodily functions. "Thanks," she said lamely. "Guys I'm beat—"

Rossi began to get up. "All right, I can take you home."

"No," she practically shouted. All eyes were staring directly at her now, each one wondering what was the matter with her. "I mean," she corrected. "Don't worry about it Dave, Derek offered to take me home. He's on his way out anyways."

"Oh," Rossi responded, giving her a quizzical look.

She could have hit herself right then. Acting like such a psycho at a table full of profilers, someone was bound to put two and two together. The least she could have done was attempt to act natural. By the way Rossi was looking at her he clearly knew something was up.

"You guys are having a great time," she said more calmly. "I don't want to ruin that." She put a hand on Rossi's arm. "Thanks for the ride here, Dave, but stay and have a good time."

He nodded and took his seat; with a quick goodbye to all, she made her way back to Derek.

Wordlessly, they made there way out of the club, Morgan slipping his hand around hers.

* * *

Emily woke up the next morning with a headache. For a second, she couldn't remember where she was, until she turned over to see a very shapely arm in her direct view. She leaned up on her arm to look over that shapely arm and came face to face with a sleeping Morgan. And suddenly, every single detail of the night before came back to her in a flash.

Morgan pulling her into his bedroom, kissing her neck. Clothes being thrown off in a rush. The touch of his skin electrifying her skin. The caresses of their bodies as they moved together.

It had been one _very_ good night.

But, oh man, she had slept with a co-worker—a strictly forbidden activity at the Bureau. What had she been thinking? Agreeing to go with him, putting both their careers on the line. No, she had to remedy this situation and quick.

She looked back over at Morgan wondering if she should wake him up or not. He looked so peaceful; it was rare that anyone ever saw him so unguarded and so vulnerable. The sight was heart-warming and she suddenly had the urge to touch his face, an urge that she was about to follow through on.

As she reached out to touch his face, Morgan began to stir. She pulled back her hand as if it were burned, and watched as his arm went up to cover his eyes.

No more trying to sneak a feel, she told herself, it was time to leave.

She started to get out of bed, pulling the sheet along with her.

"Where are you going?" Emily heard Morgan's groggy voice.

Emily looked over at him startled, his eyes were still covered. Briefly, she thought about not answering and making a mad dash for the exit, but then she'd be making that run naked.

"Home," she answered reluctantly.

His arm came off his face and he reached for her hand, pulling her gently causing her to take a tumble back onto his bed. "Hey, stay for a bit. We can make some breakfast, eat, and go out and do something. Maybe we can catch a movie."

Emily just stared at him incredulously. Obviously, the gravity of their situation hadn't dawned on him yet. "Derek," she started slowly. "This was a mistake."

He gave her an irresistible pout, that almost had her instantly back in his arms again. "It sure didn't feel like a mistake. You can't tell me you didn't have a good time last night. Deny it, try it, I dare you," he teased.

He had her smiling. He could do that. It was a bad, very bad quality he had. She did not want to smile just then. Still, he was so cute, and so very hot…

But their jobs would be on the line.

"Come on Derek," she protested, getting out of bed once again, she found her black dress and picked it up. "We both had a little too much to drink, let's leave it at that."

He didn't say anything in answer and she continued to walk around his room, looking for various pieces of clothing. She took his silence as understanding. Good, that was that. She felt relieved and yet a little disappointed.

She was about to go into the adjoining bathroom when he stopped her in her tracks. "I wasn't drunk Emily, I knew exactly what I was doing. And you did too."

Emily let out a sigh. "I know… but Derek, we can't… I can't…"

Morgan just nodded his head in resignation. She left the room quickly, not able to look at his face any longer. If she wasn't mistaken, she could tell there was hurt in his eyes. And the last thing she had ever wanted was to hurt Derek Morgan.

* * *

Emily walked into the BAU and made her way to the bullpen all with tentative steps. She had left Derek's apartment promptly after getting dressed. They hadn't even talked after that. Now she wondered how they were going to act after that. She hoped they could be normal.

"Morning Emily," a voice greeted.

She nearly jumped out of her skin, and she knew normal had jumped out the window.

"Oh, Dave, morning," she replied after a second.

He put a concerned hand on her shoulder. "Hey, is everything all right?"

She nodded quickly, forcing a smile. "Yeah, just too much coffee, it's making me jumpy. I need to cut back on the caffeine."

He gave her a curious look before continuing. "I see you made it home safely Friday night."

'Ok,' she thought to herself. 'Here is a direct reference to that night. Be calm, you're talking to a profiler.'

"Yep, all in one piece," she assured, silently praising her serenity.

"That's good. How was your weekend?" he asked her.

Emily heard his question but was suddenly distracted. "Um… fine…"

Her eyes trained on Derek as he made his way through the glass doors into the BAU offices. She braced herself for the moment that they'd com face to face.

He looked good, she couldn't help but notice. He was wearing a suit, something he rarely did. She had to swallow suddenly.

He reached his desk and put his brief case down. He turned to them and said, "Morning Rossi, Morning Prentiss."

Her face fell suddenly. Prentiss? Friday night she had been Emily. To say that she was disappointed was an understatement. She didn't know why she felt dejected all of the sudden, but she did.

"Morning," she mumbled.

Luckily, if anyone noticed her sudden ice-cold mood they weren't able to comment, because Garcia chose that exact moment to swoop in.

"Hey guys," Garcia greeted.

"Good morning," Rossi replied.

"Morning, baby girl," Morgan responded jovially.

Emily's frown deepened.

"Hey Em," Garcia's attention suddenly turned on her. "Can I talk to you a second?"

"Sure," she quickly replied, relieved. Anything to get away from him.

They made their way to Garcia's dimly lit office. Once there she regretted coming in the first place.

"So, spill," Garcia demanded.

"Spill?" Emily asked, unsure.

"What happened after you and tall, dark and handsome left the club Friday night?" Garcia elaborated.

Emily shrugged. "Nothing."

"Don't give me that," she said in exasperation. "I can tell, I know these things. Did you go to his place or yours?"

"Garcia," Emily almost pleaded.

"You know I'll find out somehow," Garcia warned. "It would be better to tell me now."

"Ugh… Penelope, you're annoying, you know that," Emily exclaimed in exasperation. "We went to Derek's place."

Unfortunately, the minute the words came out of her mouth the door opened to reveal JJ.

"I knew something was going on!" JJ exclaimed.

Emily let out a groan.

"So, how was he?" Garcia asked excitedly.

"Do you even have to ask? With a body like that… " JJ added.

The two girls looked at JJ with wide eyes.

"What?" she defended. "Just because I'm not interested in him doesn't mean that I don't know that the guy is hot."

Emily let out a sigh. "Guys, I'm not sure I want to talk about this anymore," Emily said in obvious discomfort.

"Ok, no more details," Garcia relented. "When are you seeing him again?"

"I see him everyday at work," Emily evaded.

"You know what she means," JJ elaborated. "When are you guys going out again?"

Emily shook her head in disbelief at the question. "Well considering what we did wouldn't be considered a date, I'd say we're not. We both agreed it wouldn't be a good idea."

Both women's mouths dropped open.

"Come on guys, don't give me that look." Emily winced. "You know the Bureau frowns on intermingling of employees. If we got caught…"

"Then don't get caught," JJ said simply.

Emily raised an eyebrow at that.

"Hey, it can be done. Look at me and Kevin, going strong a year later. Living together and everything. If anyone asks, though, we're roommates."

"I don't know Garcia," Emily said tentatively.

"All I know Emily, is that Derek Morgan isn't a guy to miss out on if given the chance," JJ finished.

Emily took it to heart, knowing she had much to think about.

* * *

Morgan walked over to the water cooler to grab a drink before the mornings briefing. Rossi was already there grabbing himself a drink.

Neither said a word but by the look Rossi was shooting him he knew he had something to say.

"Rossi, man, if you've got something to say, spit it out," Morgan prompted.

"Just wondering if everything's alright between you and Emily," Rossi spoke up.

"Everything's fine, why wouldn't they be?" Morgan shot back, suddenly realizing he was on a team of profilers.

"It's just, Emily seemed so jumpy and you seemed a little cold towards her," Rossi observed.

"Nope, nothings wrong. We're fine, friends, that's all," Derek iterated, hoping the bitterness he felt didn't emanate from his words.

"That's good," Rossi said.

Derek began to walk away when Rossi's voice stopped him.

"Derek, be careful with her, she's not as tough as she lets everyone believe."

Derek nodded then walked away, knowing that Rossi was right.

* * *

Just in case the For You, Always readers are confused, this takes place about a month before chapter one of For You, Always. Conflicted should pretty much match the timeline of For You, Always from here on out.

Well let me know what you think. I hope you enjoyed it, but if you didn't let me know anyways. I'll have the next chapter up shortly.

See ya all!


	2. Just One More

**A/N:** Hey. I got such great response for this story that I decided to update quickly. So, I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as you did the other. Please R&R! Thanks!

**Disclaimer:** Nope still don't own Criminal Minds.

**Chapter 2: Just One More:**

Emily let out a tired sigh as she put her empty glass down on the bar.

"Thanks Dave for the drink, but I think it's time to go home."

Rossi had invited her out for a drink. He had probably noticed how stressful her day was and how much she needed to unwind. It was review time for the BAU and her turn had been earlier that day. An hour of being grilled by Erin Strauss, the lady she'd failed to please by not providing any dirt on her boss. As if there was anything bad to say about the job Aaron Hotchner did; she was convinced the guy lived and breathed for his job. And her and her fellow co-workers always mused how they needed to set him up with a nice girl. But it wasn't like many of them were successful in the relationship department, anyways. Between them, there was her, a divorcee, a multiple divorcee, a shy genius, and the self proclaimed bachelor.

She tried hard not to think about that particular bachelor. It had been a tough month since their little one night stand. In fact, part of the stress she'd incurred today was due to how strained her relationship was, now, with Morgan. She was afraid it was beginning to become apparent to everyone else that something was up between the two.

"It was no problem, I could tell you could use one," Rossi said politely. "I can drive you home if you'd like."

She held up her keys. "Drove here, remember," she replied, smiling. She slipped off the bar stool and gave his shoulder a squeeze. "Thanks for sitting here, listening to me rant. I know I shouldn't complain…"

He gave her hand a pat, cutting her off. "What are friends for?"

She said good night and made her way to the parking lot. She really had talk Rossi's ear off that night. He was a good listener and always had some insightful advice. Of course, she couldn't really talk about her Derek situation, but it still helped talking about everything else.

Climbing into her car, she resigned herself to going home and going straight to bed. And then maybe the next day she'd work up the courage to confront Derek and finally resolve things. And hopefully get back to normal.

* * *

Emily fluffed up her pillow ready to climb in and curl up in bed, when her phone rang suddenly. Briefly, she considered letting it go to voice mail, but then she thought, what if it's important.

She picked up the receiver and answered, "Hello?"

"Emily?" she heard Hotch's questioning voice.

"Yeah Hotch, it's me. What's up?" she asked, wondering what her boss was doing calling her so late.

"I'm here at JJ's…" he said tentatively.

He didn't sound good. Something was very wrong. "Is she ok? Is Henry?'

"It's Will," he replied with finality.

Emily listened in horror as Hotch gave the details. How Will was following a speeding car driven by a suspected murderer and how the driver had pulled a gun on the southern detective and finally how he didn't make it.

"Oh my God…" Emily whispered. "I'll come over right away. Should I come over right away?" She was so unsure of how to proceed.

"She finally fell asleep and Henry's in bed. I'll be here all night if she needs anything. But can you get here in the morning?"

"Sure, I'll be there first thing," she assured.

"Ok," was all he could say.

"Hey Hotch," she said quickly before he hung up. "If she wakes up before I get there, tell her… tell her I'm sorry."

"I will."

The phone clicked off a second later as she stared at it in horror. Not believing something so bad could happen to her good friend.

Now was the time to push all her troubles aside and help JJ out. She'd be there for her every step of the way.

* * *

Derek couldn't believe the phone call he'd just got. He slouched onto the couch and put his head into his hands. He couldn't stop thinking about how devastated JJ would be at that moment. She would need him and all her friends to step up to the plate now.

"Wow," he breathed out in disbelief. Wondering how a guy he had just hung out with the month before could be gone so suddenly. It really made you think about how short life really was, and how it wasn't worth it to hold grudges.

'Emily,' he couldn't help but think. He had really screwed things up with her since their night together. It's just that when she rejected him… it hurt.

But he could understand her point of view. Out of the whole team, other than maybe JJ, she was probably closest to Hotch in job mentality. In that the job really, really meant a lot to them. And having a relationship could potentially put their jobs at risk. He had just thought that after so long, that their time together meant she was ready to take that risk. But she wasn't. And how did he act? Like a big baby.

It was time to remedy that situation, starting now. He picked up the phone and dialled her number.

After a couple of rings she picked up. "Hello? Hotch?"

"No, it's me Emily," Morgan replied.

"Oh, Morgan, hi, I thought you might have been Hotch. He just phoned—"

"Yeah, he phoned here too. It's crazy, isn't it?"

"Definitely," Emily answered sadly. "It's unbelievable. We're going to need to be there for JJ and Henry."

"Yeah, that's why I'm calling. I'm heading there in the morning," Morgan started. "Do you want to hitch a ride?"

He wasn't surprised when she replied, "With you?"

He chuckled. "Yeah with me, who else?"

"I don't want to trouble you—" she started to protest.

"Em, it's no trouble, I'll be over by eight?" he said sincerely.

"Ok…" she agreed reluctantly.

"Try to get some sleep."

"Yeah, you too."

Derek hung up the phone. It was a start, but hopefully they'd be able to get back to themselves.

* * *

To say the ride over to JJ's house was awkward would have been an understatement. To Emily it seemed that neither of them could get out a word. Not even polite small talk.

What was she thinking, accepting a ride over from him? It hadn't been necessary; she had her own car, after all.

But as she glanced over at him, after thinking he had been watching her, but not catching him, she knew what she was thinking. She had believed his phone call was an attempt to let bygones be bygones. Now, as they pulled up into JJ's driveway, only Hotch's car in sight, she had to wonder what the motive really was for his call. Because there definitely wasn't any patching up going on between them. Actually there was nothing going on at the moment, and she was sort of relieved to have arrived at her grieving friend's house.

* * *

He was an idiot, Morgan mused while sitting down on JJ's couch, and the entire team huddled around the bereaved blonde. He was an idiot for two reasons.

Number 1: he had sat the entire ride over with Emily in silence. And he had to wonder, who does that?

He had to admit he hadn't thought it through when he'd phoned her up and offered her a ride. He vaguely thought that it would go back to normal between them and they'd start talking about some geeky guilty pleasure they both secretly coveted.

But that hadn't happened. For that to happen words would have had to been exchanged.

Reason number 2 for being an idiot: his friend had just lost her fiancé and he was sitting there eyeing Emily and wondering about his own issues when JJ really needed him.

No, things were far from normal, and they weren't gong to be for awhile.

* * *

It had been a long exhausting week, emotionally and physically, consisting of long nights, phone calls, and take out. All in hopes of putting together Will's funeral, without JJ ever having to lift a finger.

Emily looked at the grim faces seated in JJ's living room, she could tell that Will's death, and ultimately JJ's suffering, had taken its toll on the family of profilers.

JJ herself was no where in sight, but Emily knew from Hotch that she was spending some time alone with Henry before people started to arrive for the wake.

Emily listened as everyone wondered if JJ could get over this tragedy.

"I don't think you ever do," Rossi put in his two cents about grief and losing a loved one. "Something as final as death, I don't think we ever truly accept. There's always a part of man that wishes things were otherwise."

Emily took in Rossi's words. The man always knew how to be straightforward. He wasn't one to mess about with feelings. Sometimes she admired him for that and sometimes she pitied him. Right now she could possibly admire it. Because the feelings she was having because of JJ's torment were becoming unbearable.

"She's going to need us," Emily responded. And she would do whatever she could to lessen her friend's pain.

"And we'll be there for her," Hotch assured.

The silence was getting too heavy for Emily's liking, any longer in that room and she was bound to cry. And she wasn't the crying type.

"I'm going to check on the caterers in the kitchen," she quickly told the group, getting up to leave; she was startled by what Morgan said next.

"I'll help you out."

* * *

Emily ignored him as she went around the kitchen making sure everything was prepared for the guests that were set to arrive at any moment. She didn't want anything out of place or unready, because when JJ came out of the nursery she didn't want her friend to worry about a thing.

But as she spoke to one server to the next, with Derek hovering, she suddenly couldn't take it anymore.

"Derek, what?" she said more rudely than necessary. "Do you want to say something?"

He looked ready to shake his head, but then he said, "Yeah, can we um… talk outside?"

She wanted to say no, spending any time alone with Derek lately was just plain awkward. Gone were the days where they talked easily about nothing. The puppy dog eyes he was flashing, however, told her she couldn't say no.

"Ok…" she answered tentatively.

They exited the house through the French doors that led to a terrace outside JJ's kitchen. Once outside silence ensued.

"Derek what do you want from me?" she pleaded.

He gave her an intense look as if to check if she really didn't know. She didn't.

"Well, I wanted a chance," he said forthright. "A chance to see what could have been between us."

He wanted there to be something between them? That was news to her. Ok, it wasn't really; he had hinted at it after their one night. But she had chalked it up to drunkenness or guilt. Maybe he actually did want something real. But…

"Derek, our jobs—" she began to protest.

"No," he cut her off. "That's not what I want anymore. What I want is for things to go back to normal. Can we do that?"

What? she thought. He didn't want her anymore? She was so confused and disappointed, strangely. She was hearing the words she had wanted to hear but they didn't seem like they were the right words anymore.

"I'd like that," she said slowly, feeling heaviness in her chest.

"Good," he said with finality.

'Oh,' she thought. 'I am an idiot.'

* * *

Emily led the way up to her apartment with Morgan following. He had insisted on walking her up to her apartment, not taking no for an answer, after driving her home from the wake.

Reaching her door, she unlocked it, turning around to say good bye. "Thanks for the ride home," she told him sincerely.

Lately, she'd taken to hitching rides with Rossi mostly, but once in a while Morgan offered as well. All were usually headed in the same direction anyways, planning Will's funeral together.

"No problem," Morgan answered.

She stepped inside holding the door open. Hesitantly, she said, "Do you want to come in… for a drink or coffee?"

She was sure he was going to say no. Why wouldn't he? She had shot him down a couple of times, how could he still want anything to do with her other than as cordial colleagues.

"Uh… sure," he said after a moment's deliberation. "Coffee sounds good."

"Ok," she said unsurely, as he walked inside taking in her spacious open floor plan apartment.

She heard him whistle and she smiled. "Nice apartment you got here."

"Thanks," she replied.

She walked into the kitchen going for her state of the art cappuccino machine. "Come over here and have a seat."

She watched him out of the corner of her eye, settle on to one of her bar stools.

"What is that?" Morgan questioned.

"What?" she asked turning around to see what he was talking about.

He pointed warily at her coffee machine. "That?"

"This is a coffee machine," she informed.

"Nah uh," he scoffed. "The thing we use at work is a coffee machine, that's like some expensive piece of art."

She laughed. "Derek, that stuff we drink at work is like mud compared to this. This is the real deal."

With that claim she poured him a frothy drink and waited while he took a sip.

"Well?" she asked, amused.

"I bow down to your mighty coffee machine," he relented.

Emily laughed at his antics, as she came around to sit on the stool next to him.

Silence ensued once again, but for once in a really long time it wasn't awkward. And she had to believe it was because of their agreement to go back to normal.

She let out a sigh. Normal was definitely better than the cold shoulder, but she couldn't help but wonder if there was something even better.

"What's up?" he asked perceptively.

She looked at him startled, he was watching her concernedly. "Nothing… well actually… JJ… I just wish this didn't happen to her."

"Me too... I can't believe it. Will was a good guy, he didn't deserve this. And Henry doesn't deserve to grow up without a father."

"Henry…" she breathed out. "Don't remind me, every time I think about him my heart starts to hurt."

He reached a hand out and gave her shoulder a calming rub. "We'll be there for him. We'll help JJ out," he assured.

"Yeah," she said. "I'm so glad Hotch was there tonight at the wake, though. When JJ…"

She trailed off remembering the scene vividly. Everything had been going fine until they had brought out a picture of Will and everyone began to tell little anecdotes about him. JJ couldn't handle it and broke down. Only Hotch was able to calm her down, holding her tightly in his arms.

Morgan nodded. "I have a feeling he won't be leaving her side for awhile."

"That's good," she said shakily.

"Hey, hey, don't cry," Morgan said tenderly.

She hadn't known she was until he'd pointed it out. Now she felt the tears sliding down her face. She wiped at them embarrassingly. "Sorry," she sniffled. "I know it's stupid for me to cry…"

"It's not stupid," Morgan denied. "It's been a sad week…"

She nodded still trying to get her tears under control, but she couldn't. Everything this past month just seemed to build up until now. Her troubles with Derek, the stresses at work, and finally Will's death, she was crying for it all. And in front of the one person she never wanted to look weak in front of.

Emily covered her face in her hands, needing some way to hide from him. She continued to let the tears flow, hoping that they'd run out sooner rather than later.

She felt Morgan's hesitant touch on her shoulder. "Hey…" he said soothingly. "Somehow it'll all be all right in the end…"

His hand went up to stroke her hair and then they were pulling at her hands, she shook her head in protest. But he managed to get them off.

She looked at him through blurry eyes. He was looking at her tenderly and not pityingly.

Her hands were still in his and he pulled on them. "Come here," he said forlornly. He pulled her straight into his arms, putting her two hands behind his back. He hugged her tight and she settled into him, her head resting at the crook of his neck.

Emily continued to cry while listening to Derek attempt to comfort her. At one point she heard him murmur something like, "Dave was right," but she wasn't sure if she had heard correctly.

Eventually, the sobs died down and all that was left in her were a few errant tears. She pulled away from him, noting his wet shoulder.

"I am so sorry Derek," she apologized. "I did not mean to break down on you like that."

He shook his head. "Don't apologize Em, I'm glad I was here for you… I hate it when you're sad."

She held her breath and could only watch as Derek reached a hand to wipe a falling tear. His other hand came up to catch a tear on her other cheek.

"Damn," he murmured. "You're even beautiful when you cry."

Suddenly her face felt very hot between his two hands. But he let go a second later…only to replace the touch of his hand on her cheek with that of his lips. Kissing her tears away.

"But," he continued to whisper. "I hate it when you're sad… don't be sad anymore."

Looking into his eyes, Emily could tell what he was about to do next. And she found no will, no urge to stop him in the slightest.

Derek began to lean into her and she could count the milliseconds before his lips touched her in a feather light kiss. He pulled back to gauge her reaction, but suddenly it was her hands on his face pulling him back.

This time the touch was more urgent; there was an underlying need to the kiss. Her lips parted at his urging and she felt his tongue graze her lips before slipping in and intensifying the kiss.

After what seemed like forever the pair pulled back, breath coming out rapidly, to watch each other.

Morgan's hand came up to caress her cheek. 'You… must be tired," he said slowly. "I'm going to go."

She didn't say anything; she was still caught up in the previous moment, wondering what it had meant. She walked with him to her door about to let him go.

"Derek," she called out as he was out her door down the hall. "Wait."

She met him outside her door and threw her arms around him for one more kiss.

* * *

Well there's the next chapter. Hope you enjoyed. As always leave me a review and let me know what you think, good, bad, or otherwise. I take it all.

Thanks to all those who reviewed: **beth; kyw0202; Confetti Leaves **_(I agree, there definitely aren't enough.)_; **b9je** _(hey, yeah I'm starting to kind of like the Emily/Rossi pairing too. Maybe I'll give one a shot in the near future);_ and **ForeverMeansAlways.**

See ya all soon!


	3. Boyfriend

**A/N:** Hey all! I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter. Hope you like this one as much. To those who read For You, Always, you'll notice a bit of overlap. Please R&R! Thanks!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Criminal Minds. If I did…

**Chapter 3: Boyfriend:**

"You know you don't have to come with us," Morgan informed his boss and friend.

Hotch let out a sigh. "I know," he answered simply, but didn't say anything else to indicate he had changed his mind as to whether he was staying or not.

The team had been invited by local PD in Atlanta to help out with a case; it was their first case in a month since Will's death. JJ, of course, wasn't ready to go back to work. But Morgan had to wonder if even Hotch was ready to leave the media liaison's side.

They were on their way to her house to check if she needed anything before they left. She'd be alone while they were gone. Even Garcia was on the roster for this trip.

They pulled up to JJ's driveway and before either of them could get out, her front door opened and JJ was seen standing in the doorway, a robe wrapped around her small frame.

Hotch turned to Morgan. "Give me a second to see if she's ok. I'll be right back."

Morgan watched as Hotch practically jumped out of the car. He gave JJ a wave and she waved back.

It'd been a slow month in terms of work. No one really wanted to leave JJ's side. So, they all mostly used their down time to catch up on paper work or give lectures to the new recruits. But Morgan was ready to get back to some real work. JJ was better now. Still sad, but she was coming to terms with Will's death. And Morgan believed she was ready to move on. And he could see Hotch was ready to help her do that.

He continued to watch his boss and friend chat. It was obvious to him that JJ was telling Hotch to go, who kept on hesitating, and that JJ didn't really want him to go. He decided it was time to speed things up.

Morgan opened the SUV's door, stepped out, and walked up to JJ's front door.

"Hotch come on, I've been waiting in the car forever," he lamented, when, really, he'd been only waiting five minutes, tops.

He could tell Hotch didn't want to go, but he also didn't want to abandon the team. He was torn.

"Go Hotch," JJ urged gently.

Finally, Derek watched as his boss nodded once and then turned for the car. Derek could tell that this was not what anyone really wanted. So, he was going to fix things. He didn't move to join his friend.

"How're you doing, JJ?" he asked her.

She smiled at him. There was still sadness in her eyes; understandable. "Fine Derek, really," she tried to assure.

He didn't smile back, unconvinced by her bout of bravery. "Because, I'm pretty sure we can spare one of us on this case."

JJ laughed. "That's more realistic than what he was suggesting. Hotch was ready to ignore the case and let all of you stay behind."

He saw her look towards the car, that's how he knew she didn't really want to be alone.

"JJ, we can spare Hotch if you need him," he said outright.

"Don't be ridiculous Derek, you know you need him," she denied with a shrug of her shoulders. "Besides I've got to cut the cord sometime. I mean, it's been a month, I should be-"

"You know there isn't a timeline with grief," he cut her off. "JJ you need to take as much time as you feel is right. And if that means you still need your friends, well…"

He trailed off knowing she got the point.

"Is it bad that I really, really want him to stay with me?" she asked nervously.

Morgan shook his head once, meaning it.

"I… I don't know what to do," she told him, aggravated.

But he knew. "I could tell him to get out of the car."

He waited for her answer as she considered carefully. She'd be reluctant, but he knew what her answer would be.

"Ok," she whispered.

Morgan turned away to go towards the car. Reaching it, he saw the car door opening.

"Morgan, I can't go—" Hotch began.

"Good, because she wants you to stay," Morgan cut him off.

Morgan stepped around the car headed for the driver's seat.

"She said that?"

"Yeah, I think she's just a little embarrassed," Morgan informed. "Go easy on her, ok?"

Hotch nodded his head and started to walk away. Morgan stood there a second longer knowing his boss wasn't done.

Right on cue, Hotch turned around. "Keep me informed, I want to know what's going on."

Morgan laughed as he got inside the car.

* * *

Emily sat on the plane patiently. She was the first to board. She always liked to be prompt, never wanting to be late in fear of missing something.

She had to wonder if Hotch and Derek were doing ok with JJ. They had left the BAU offices nearly an hour ago. They should have been back by now.

Emily had to admit she was a little nervous. This would be hers and Morgan's first case since that fateful kiss in her apartment a month ago. She wasn't sure exactly how they'd act together while on a case.

What they'd been doing the past month would officially be called casual dating. But nothing more had happened. He would pick her up, they'd go out, have an amazing time and then he'd bring her back to her apartment, where they'd share an amazing kiss. She would invite him in, but he'd politely refuse every time. There hadn't been a repeat of their one night stand yet.

Emily didn't know whether to be frustrated or offended. All in all it was just so confusing.

"Hey chica," Garcia exclaimed as she entered the plane, always excited when she got to go on a case. "How's it going?"

Emily wasn't quick to hide her frown. And her reply of "Good" just wasn't lively enough either, because Garcia caught on quick.

"Hey, what's up?" she questioned.

"Nothing," Emily assured.

"Lately, when you get that face it's been Derek related," Garcia said knowingly. She took a seat across from her friend. "Come on, let all-knowing Penelope help you out."

Emily let out a long sigh. "Derek's been great, a total gentleman."

"So what's the problem?" she wanted to know.

"He's been a _total_ gentleman," she emphasized.

Garcia didn't need to be hinted at twice. "Ah… I see, you're getting no action."

"Garcia!" she exclaimed.

"Oh, whatever, it's only us Em," Garcia assured. "Do you know what I think, hun?"

Emily cringed involuntarily. "Do I want to know?"

Garcia shrugged her shoulders. "I _am_ the all-knowing Penelope Garcia."

"Ok, shoot."

"Derek really, really cares about you," Garcia advised.

"Ok…" Emily said, ready to scoff. "If he cares so much about me then why doesn't he want to… you know?"

"Em, dear, it's because he cares so much about you that he's abstaining," she said smartly.

"I don't follow," she said outright.

"What happened the last time you got together?" Garcia questioned, as she saw the dawn of realization on her friend's face. "That's right, you ran. See, Derek cares about you. He wants to be with you. And he doesn't want to scare you away. Hence, the taking it real slow. He's such a sweetie that way, isn't he?"

"Ah… I see," Emily caught on. "He is sweet."

Garcia smiled at her friend. "Good, now turn that frown upside down. And just talk to the stud-man. Let him know you aren't going to run."

Emily nodded her head.

"Who's going to run?"

Emily and Garcia peered down the aisle to see who was intruding on their conversation. Seeing that it was Rossi, Emily assumed Garcia would be tight-lipped.

She assumed wrong.

"Emily _isn't_ going to run from Derek," Garcia provided, ignoring the look the brunette was shooting her.

Reaching the two ladies, Rossi shot Emily a quizzical look. "Oh?"

Emily found herself involuntarily blushing. She couldn't help it. She talked about a lot of things with Rossi, but she found any mention of her relationship with Derek to be awkward. She wasn't exactly sure why. But she thought it was the way Rossi's eyebrow always shot upwards at any mention of her and Derek's couple-dom. As if he couldn't believe it.

"Never mind," she murmured uncomfortably.

Garcia, catching on, added, "Yeah everything's peachy now after our little girl-talk."

Rossi continued to eye her and she was hard pressed not to squirm. Luckily, the resident genius and boy wonder decided to pop in.

"We ready to go?" Reid wondered out loud.

"Nope, not yet," Emily informed. "Still waiting on Hotch and Morgan."

"Yep," Garcia said quickly. "That is, if they both show up."

"What do you mean?" Reid asked, unsure.

"I mean, it's only been a month since Will died, I don't think JJ's ready to be alone yet. Hotch's definitely staying," Garcia explained.

"But, its Hotch," Emily scoffed. "He lives and breathes for his job."

"Nah, I'm with Penelope, Hotch hasn't left her side yet. If anyone knows if she's ready to be alone, it would be him," Rossi put in his two cents.

"Really?" Emily questioned.

"I'm pretty sure," he declared.

"Reid?" Garcia asked. "Any input?"

"Well, statistically speaking," Reid began. "Hotch hasn't missed a case, by choice, ever, so I'll go with the numbers."

"That's it, betting time," Garcia announced. "Who's in?"

They went around the group, putting in their money, making their wagers. They even went so far as to ask the pilot if he was in, which of course he was. And he was going against Hotch staying.

Now they all waited.

And when Derek finally walked up the BAU jet's steps, each one noted who was right and who was wrong.

"No Hotch?" Rossi questioned.

Morgan shook his head in answer.

There was silence for a second while Emily exchanged glances with everyone in turn, all a bit apprehensive.

"How bad of friends are we if we had placed bets on this outcome?" Garcia broke the silence in a guilty tone.

Emily watched on as Derek eyed each of them shaking his head in disapproval.

"I can't believe you guys," he said disdainfully.

Emily couldn't take his disappointed look. "I know, I know we're horrible," she admitted.

"Only you were taking so long," Reid added, taking some of the blame.

"And we got so bored," Garcia elaborated

Morgan put up his hands to silence them. Emily braced herself for a lecture.

"I am truly disappointed in each and every one of you," he paused, letting his words sink in. Emily felt herself shrinking. "To take part in this bet… and not let me in on it. I'm deeply saddened by this atrocity."

It took Emily a few seconds to process his speech and a second later to figure out that he was just joking.

They all burst out laughing, exchanging the money.

* * *

Derek was ready to go to bed. It seemed like they hadn't gotten any sleep that entire week in Atlanta. But the case was solved and all had decided to stay the night, before making the short flight home.

And even though he had sorely missed working cases, he always missed his own bed just a little bit more.

He plopped down into bed right as a knock came at his door. He groaned out loud, not really wanting to move. But he got up anyways, though, not bothering with his shirt.

He pulled open the door and was more than a little surprised to see Emily standing there, clad only in a short black night gown.

"Emily!" he exclaimed, not bothering to hide his shock.

"Hey," she said. "Can I come in?"

In confusion, he held open the door for her. He watched her walk inside slowly, before shutting the door behind her. She was blushing and at first he didn't know why, until he saw that she was looking at his bare chest.

"Uh… I can put a shirt on," he said, slightly awkwardly.

"No," she said a bit loudly, causing her to blush harder. "I mean, it's ok…"

"Ok…" Morgan said unsurely.

She took his hand in hers and said, "Come on, let's sit." And she led them to the loveseat in the small hotel room.

They sat down, but remained in silence. He could feel her thumb stroke the palm of his hand. It was a comforting feeling. So when he asked, "What's up Em?" it was with a calm tone.

"I just…" she started trailing off. "I just, felt like seeing you. I… uh missed you."

He understood completely. Yes, they'd been side by side the entire investigation, but they refrained from showing any signs of their togetherness. They both agreed it would be more professional that way. And it would preserve their jobs, of course.

"I missed you, too," he said, smiling.

She smiled back at him, a slow smile that took it's time to dazzle him, a smile he liked to think she only reserved for him. She leaned into him, so that their lips touched effortlessly. She kissed him slowly, taking her time, at first. Then he felt her press her body up against his, deepening the kiss. The next thing he knew he was pulling her closer, so that she was straddling his lap and both his hands had a firm grip on her hips.

He felt as her hands wondered from around his neck to trail down to his bare chest, massaging small flaming circles across his smooth skin. It was when her small hands went lower that his senses came back to him.

Derek managed to pull his lips from hers. And he took hold of her wondering, magic hands.

"Hey, hey, let's slow things down," he proposed.

She let out a sigh. "Why?"

Her question caught him off guard. Why? Well, because, he respected her and never wanted to do her wrong. Because, he cared about her, and he wanted her by his side.

She continued in his silence. "Derek, I'm not going to run," she told him firmly.

"Emily—" he started, unsurely.

"I know I did before," she started, cutting him off. "But, I was scared. Things happened so fast."

"That's why I want to take things slow," he said as if it were obvious.

"I was scared after that night," she agreed. "But we've had a month of getting used to this—"

"And… what is _this_?" he wanted to know.

She stared at him with wide eyes. He could tell that she had never really defined what they had going on. But he was gong to force her to. He needed to know.

"This…" she began, and he nodded for her to go on. "This… is us… I… uh really care about you. And I'd like us to uh… continue."

He nodded, taking in her words. They may not have been the most eloquent, but they were exactly what he wanted to hear. And he watched as she waited nervously for his reaction.

He made sure their eyes were locked as he took each of her hands in his and placed a kiss in the palm of each hand.

"Emily," he said in a low tone. "I care about you too. Now, can I _finally_ tell people you're my girlfriend?"

She smiled brightly, nodding. "I'd like that."

"Good," he said, "Now, come here."

He pulled her in close for another earth-shattering kiss.

333333333

Emily looked over at the hand that engulfed her own. She really, really liked that hand. That hand could do amazing things. She had found that out the previous night.

Her gaze travelled up the chocolate skinned hand to watch her sleeping boyfriend. God, she loved that word. Boyfriend. It just felt so right.

She remembered the previous night, lying in her boyfriend's arms after a couple hours of un-gentlemanly like behaviour. Waking up next to him, without the rush to run was just as delicious, she found. He wouldn't let her out of bed until breakfast had come to the door. And then he'd insisted on escorting her to her room when she had told him that she needed to go back to get dressed. He'd treated her like a princess.

And the pampering continued when they found out their flight had been delayed till that evening instead of early afternoon. They spent the day alone together, sight seeing and what not. It was a really good day for the couple.

She smiled at her sleeping beauty before giving his cheek a kiss. She hadn't been able to resist and he didn't stir anyways. No harm done. But she did feel a pair of eyes on her. And when she looked up it was to see Rossi eyeing her curiously.

She tried to control her blush as she decided to join her fellow agent. Slowly she pulled her hand from Derek's and walked across the small space towards the older agent.

"Hey Dave," she greeted warmly.

"Emily," he replied. "Can't sleep either?"

"Nope, got too much on my mind," she admitted.

"Good things, I hope?"

The image of Derek's bare chest shot involuntarily to the forefront of her mind. This time she couldn't hold back the blush. "Yeah," she replied lamely.

There was a moment of silence until Rossi finally broke it. "I see things with you and Derek are going well."

She nodded; convinced her face would permanently stay that particular shade of red. "Derek's great. I really care about him," then she paused, remembering she was talking to one of her superiors. "Of course, that won't get in the way of our jobs. We both agreed to be completely professional on the job."

"Relax Em," Rossi reassured. "I know you're a good agent. One of the best. Besides, I'm not you boss, Hotch is."

She nodded once again. "Thanks."

She desperately wanted the subject to change. Unfortunately, it was not to be.

"So," Rossi started conversationally. "Was he part of the stress you were feeling last month?"

"Oh," she answered, caught of guard. "I guess, a little… but that was all a misunderstanding. We've fixed things since then."

"I see," Rossi answered. She could not read the expression on his face and she wasn't sure why she cared.

"I've got to admit, I never really thought of you and Derek as a couple," Rossi confided.

* * *

Derek awoke to the sound of two quiet voices chatting. He quickly realized that Emily was talking to Rossi.

The conversation seemed innocent enough. He didn't feel very bad about listening in. After all, they were talking about him and Emily.

He felt a twinge of something when he heard Rossi wondering if her stress was due to him. He hadn't realized that they talked. He'd always assumed they were more of acquaintances then friends. Apparently, he'd assume wrong.

"I've got to admit, I never really thought of you and Derek as a couple," he heard Rossi admit.

Derek's temper flared. _Why not? he thought. And why was it his business anyways?_

He listened for Emily's response.

"Why not?" she inquired, he could hear the confusion in her voice.

"Because," Rossi answered. "You just don't seem like each others type."

_Type? What the heck did he mean by that?_

"How so?" she wanted him to elaborate.

He heard Rossi sigh. It was clear to Derek that the older agent felt as if he had said too much.

"I'll put it in terms of an analogy: High School. You seem like the type of girl who joins the debate club for fun, who's on every committee there is and who is friends with everyone," Rossi explained. "And Derek… seems like the football player type."

_The guy thought he was a jock?_

"A jock?" Emily said for him, sounding amused.

"A very smart one," Rossi assured.

"Trust me Dave, Derek and I have a lot more in common than just our jobs," Emily informed.

_Yeah, like __Kurt Vonnegut__ novels, he thought to himself._

He felt slightly better to hear her tell Dave exactly what he had already thought.

"Besides, I care about him a lot," she finished.

He didn't hear anything for a moment, until he heard some shuffling.

"Well, good night," she said.

Realizing she was coming back towards him, he faked sleeping. Hoping she hadn't noticed him eavesdropping.

He was warmed when he felt her press her lips softly to his cheek.

* * *

Well that's it. Hope you enjoyed.

Thanks everyone for reading. And thanks to those who are reviewing: **Confetti Leaves; beth; ForeverMeansAlways; b9je** _(I think I might try one, but I've got to finish this one first. If I start too many fics at the same time, my mind starts to wonder and then nothing gets done, lol)_; **and mstl**.

I'll try to update soon.

See ya all soon!


	4. Suspicion

**A/N:** Hello all, sorry for the long wait. I've been dealing with a major cold that just didn't want to go away. On top of that, my sister was totally sick too with a major flu/food poisoning, not sure which it was. So, I haven't had much time to get this out. But, I'm back now, so I hope you do enjoy this chapter. Let me know what you think with a review! Thanks!

**Disclaimer:** If I owned Criminal Minds, don't ya think JJ and Hotch would be having their second kid by now?

**Chapter 4: Suspicion:**

Emily poured herself a cup of coffee in the break room, not really eager to return back to her desk. Because her desk meant more paperwork and paperwork equalled zero fun. She had to muse, though, that if she had this many files to finish with, how much did Hotch have to contend with? Or JJ for that matter? Every single file went across JJ's desk first; she must have a whole load of work to do. Coupled with the fact that JJ'd been out for the past three months, it would be much worse. Emily made a mental note to offer her assistance to the blonde on her first day back the next day.

"Hey Emily," Morgan greeted, as he slid in by her to refill his own mug. "What are you doing in here? Hiding?"

"Thinking," she informed him. "And yeah, I guess I am hiding. Did you see the piles on my desk?"

"Yeah," he chuckled. "We're going to be doing paperwork till the end of next month! What were you thinking about?"

"Oh, uh…" she said quickly. "Just, JJ coming back tomorrow. She's going to have a massive amount of work. And I was thinking of helping her out."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Even with the vast amounts of files you need to work on?"

"Well, yeah," she answered, shrugging her shoulders. "My piles are like the flat planes of Canada, compared to her Mount Everest of a pile."

The raised eyebrow lowered and Morgan said, "You really are a sweetheart aren't you?"

He leaned in and gave her a kiss, a kiss that was interrupted by the sound of throat clearing. They pulled apart quickly to see probably the last person they wanted to know that they were dating.

"Hotch, man!" Morgan exclaimed.

"What?" The stoic unit chief replied, as he poured himself his own cup of coffee.

"Sir," Emily said in a panic. "This isn't… it's not…"

She didn't know how to finish that sentence. She was just so nervous, wondering if her worst fears were about to be realized.

Hotch stared them down for a good second before speaking up. "Come on guys, you two have been dating for what, two months now? You think I didn't notice? What kind of profiler do you think I am?"

Both his fellow profilers stared at their boss in turn.

Hotch moved to leave. He stopped at the door, looking back at his friends and colleagues. "Relax guys, these things happen."

And then he did something strange. He smiled at them.

The two looked at each other for a moment until they couldn't hold it back anymore, they burst out laughing.

* * *

"How does it feel to be back, JJ?" Reid asked innocently.

"Uh… good," JJ answered, truthfully. "Feels like life is going back to normal… uh, kind of."

Everyone went silent at that. Morgan and the entire team, minus Hotch—he had some conference meeting with some higher ups, he couldn't get out of—had decided to take JJ out for lunch on her first day back. Instead of the happy celebration it was supposed to be, so far, it was just brimming over in sadness and awkwardness. Morgan wanted to relieve the tension but just didn't know how.

Besides, that was Garcia's job, as far as he was concerned. And that was why he was shooting his rambunctious blonde friend constant looks in hopes she'd get his meaning.

She didn't.

"Morgan, hun, are you ok? You're not choking are you?" she asked him concernedly.

Well, that wasn't exactly what he was aiming for, but at least all the attention was on him and off of JJ.

Emily touched his back. "What's wrong?" she asked worriedly.

He took her hand in his giving his girlfriend a kiss on the back of her hand before answering, "I'm fine, don't worry. Not exactly sure what's up with Penelope, though?"

"But you… you did… you were…" she sputtered. "Never mind."

They all shared a laugh at the moment.

"Uh… I see Hotch wasn't lying to me," JJ commented, smiling at them from across the table.

"About?" Rossi questioned.

JJ gestured towards him and Emily. "About those two. It's nice to finally see you two together."

Morgan raised an eyebrow at his friend. "Finally?"

"Oh, come on," JJ scoffed. "We all saw this coming from the moment Emily joined the BAU."

"Really?" it was Rossi to wonder out loud.

"Yeah," Reid answered. "They would constantly be at each others side, always talking and whispering, pretty much inseparable."

"We were too," Emily laughed.

"Nope, Reid may have been the first one to befriend you, Em," Garcia went on. "But we all know that it was Morgan you first opened up too."

"Opened up to?" Rossi inquired.

"She had this 'I'm a professional,' outlook on things. She didn't' believe in mixing her personal life with her professional one, so she kept to herself for a bit," Morgan informed.

"I see," Rossi said simply. "But not anymore."

Morgan wasn't sure what the agent meant by that but he was ready to bite the guys head off. Only Emily was quick to cut in.

"Yes but we know where the line is," she told the table. And then she turned to Rossi, addressing only him. "I thought we already talked about this…"

There was a moment's silence where everyone's attention was riveted to Emily and Rossi.

Finally, Dave put his hands up. "Hey, I didn't mean anything by that. I know you two are great at your jobs. You wouldn't do anything to jeopardize a case. Like I said before Em, relax."

The team desperately wanted a change of subject. But, Morgan was way too immersed in the confused/unconvinced look Emily was shooting Rossi. And he wondered if there was anything he should know about.

* * *

Emily sat at her desk that afternoon, not being very productive. She couldn't stop staring at the closed office door of a certain agent's. Ever since lunch time she couldn't stop wondering what David Rossi was actually thinking.

That was that, she had a ton of work to do--on top of her own, she'd taken on some of JJ's--and if she was going to get any work done she was going to have this out. So, she stood up, a determined look on her face.

"Where you going, Emily?" she heard Morgan ask.

"Be right back," she replied distractedly.

She made her way up the few stairs to the offices above and knocked on one in particular. Waiting, she heard the pronouncement to come in. And she swung the door open and shut it right behind her.

"Emily?" Rossi gave her a quizzical look.

"Dave," she answered, taking the seat that was in front of his desk. "Are we good?"

"Us two?" Rossi shot back, pointing between them.

"Yeah," she said assuredly. "Are we ok? Because I'm getting the vibe that we aren't."

Dave shrugged. "I thought I already said, twice, that you didn't have to worry about me."

She nodded. "Yeah, but, I'm not so convinced. So, can you please tell me what's wrong?"

She waited for him to say something, anything, but he remained silent. And just when she was about to give up on him relating what his beef was, she heard him let out a sigh.

"Look Emily, I'm just worried," he admitted.

Surprised, she told him exactly that. "Worried, about me? How come?"

"I was there a few months ago, remember? You were constantly stressed, nervous, and on edge. I did not enjoy watching you like that Emily. You're my friend, and I care about you."

That was the first she'd heard that. She knew they were friends, they'd even gotten closer the past five months or so, but he'd never told her he cared about her. It was… touching to hear.

"Aww… thanks Dave, I care about you too," she replied sincerely. "But you don't have to worry. I told you that Morgan and I are doing great. And all that before was just a misunderstanding."

"I just don't want to see you get hurt," he confessed.

She was touched by his caring, but it was unnecessary. She and Derek had worked out their issues. They would be fine in the foreseeable future.

"I won't," she reassured. She got up to leave and Dave stood up to see her out. "But, thanks for your concern. It's really nice to know you care."

"I'm here for you if you need me," he reminded.

"I'm sure I'll need to talk your ear off sooner or later," she conceded, laughing.

He nodded. "My ear is waiting."

She gave his shoulder a brief pat and was gone.

Emily made her way back to her desk, feeling better. She could see Morgan talking with Reid. But approaching her desk she could see that Morgan's eyes were following her.

Emily sat down only to be questioned.

"Everything ok, Emily?" Morgan asked, abruptly ending his conversation with Reid.

Emily exchanged a puzzled look with Reid.

"Um… yeah…" she replied slowly.

"Because Rossi was acting strange at lunch and now you went to talk to him?" Morgan inquired.

"We were just talking," she informed, wondering why he was acting the strange one, now.

"About?"

"Morgan, come on, you're starting to sound like a jealous boyfriend," Reid commented, still by Derek's desk, listening to the awkward conversation.

All three went silent at Reid's astute observation. But a second later Emily watched Reid walk away, bumping into a pretty brunette agent.

"Derek," Emily started. "Is everything all right?"

Derek nodded his head and then shook it. "He wasn't chewing you out for dating me, was he? Because he'd be a complete hypocrite if he was. The FBI rules were instated because of him."

"No, no, he wasn't," Emily said, caught of guard by his hostility. "Why would you think that?"

"Because of what he said at lunch," Derek explained.

"He said he hadn't meant it that way," she elaborated. "Besides, he just told me he was worried about me. He doesn't want to see me get hurt."

"He thinks I'm going to hurt you?"

She let out a frustrated sigh. "No Derek. He just cares, you know, in a friendly, big brother kind of way. Now can we just drop this please?"

Emily could tell he wanted to say more but because he did care about her, he did as she asked and both turned back to work.

* * *

'Yeah right, big brother kind of way my ass,' Morgan thought as he stared down at his file. 'More like the I want you kind of way.'

He'd been fuming silently over the past twenty minutes. He knew he was acting exactly like a jealous boyfriend, as Reid had mentioned, but he couldn't help it. There was something strange going on with David Rossi.

He could tell that the man held an obvious attraction for his girlfriend. Rossi seemed to confide in Emily a lot, talk to her. Other than Hotch, she was the only other team member he spent so much time with. And Derek didn't think he liked it.

But he did trust Emily. Morgan knew that she really did care about him. Their relationship was where it was at because she had trusted in him and took the plunge. So he had no doubt in his mind as to whether or not Emily wanted him. And he knew because of that she would never hurt him.

But why did he still have a sick feeling in his stomach. Even though he knew that any feelings Rossi had were truly one-sided.

He looked up to steal a glance at the woman he was becoming to deeply care about and got caught.

She gave him that bright smile that he knew now only belonged to him and he felt infinitesimally better.

He gave her a smile back and returned back to the work he could now do.

* * *

Well that's it. Hope you enjoyed. I'll try to get the next chapter out a bit sooner.

Thanks for the reviews: **b9je** _(I see that you're a big time David Rossi fan, me too, for some reason I just love him these days. I think I'll be writing one more in this series but this time from Rossi's point of view. So look forward to that)_; **kdzl** _(Thanks, I probably could have did them all together, but I thought that would be way too many people to focus on in one story. So I split them up. I'm thinking of doing a Rossi one, and maybe a Reid one too);_ and **Bobban** _(thanks for the review!)._

See ya!


	5. Set Up

**A/N:** Hello all! Here's the next instalment. Hope you enjoy this chapter! Once again, this chapter will have some overlap with For You, Always. Leave me a review and let me know what you think!

**Disclaimer:** Nope, still don't own Criminal Minds.

**Chapter 5: Set up:**

Morgan walked into the BAU offices bright and early that morning. For some reason he had a feeling they would be getting a case and he just wanted to be ready. Reaching his desk he could see that Reid had already arrived and was by the water cooler, not alone.

Standing with his young friend was an even younger looking agent of the female variety. The girl was pretty, with dark brown hair and tan colored skin. Derek wondered if the woman was of Spanish decent.

He sat down at his desk and watched their interaction, knowing that he probably had better things to do, but wanting to make sure his friend was able to hit it off.

But, it seemed from where he sat that there was a lot of blushing going on. Apparently, they were both the shy types. He wanted to help things along so he stood up to fake needing a glass of water.

"Hey Morgan," Reid greeted as he passed by.

"Morning Reid," he replied, pouring himself a cup of water. "Hello, I'm Agent Derek Morgan," he added to the pretty girl.

"Hi," the girl said brightly, apparently only shy with Reid.

"Oh Morgan, this is Agent Layla Sayid," Reid introduced.

He took the girls hand and shook it. "Nice to meet you. Which department do you hail from?"

"Organized Crime, but I'm thinking of transferring to the anti-terrorist unit," she answered.

"Nice," Derek approved.

"Spencer was just helping me out, we have a case the BAU may be interested in, so he was showing me to Agent Jareau's office."

Derek resisted the urge to smile when the girl called his friend Spencer. Obviously the two had talked more than once.

"We have a case?" Morgan asked instead.

"Potentially," Reid replied. "JJ's taking a look at it now."

"Well," Layla spoke up. "I should probably get back to work. But if you're still around at lunch time Spencer, make sure you come by my office."

"I will," he assured, his blush returning.

"Good," Layla answered, blushing herself. She turned to Derek. "It was nice meeting you Agent Morgan."

Morgan gave her a nod and she was on her way. He watched his friend watch Agent Sayid until she was well out of view. That's why he shot his friend a knowing smirk.

"What?" Reid asked when he finally noticed Derek watching.

"You like her," Morgan said simply.

"Yeah, she's a nice person. Really smart," Reid answered diplomatically.

"No, I mean you like, _like_ her," Morgan teased.

Reid let out a sigh. "Is it that obvious?"

Derek nodded. "But if it's any consolation the girl is head over heels for you, too."

"You think?"

"Trust me," Morgan assured. "I know these things. Are you going to ask her to the Bureau's Christmas party?"

"I don't know…" Reid hesitated.

"She's not going to say no," he informed.

Reid was about to answer when JJ suddenly appeared.

"Anyone else here yet?" she asked abruptly.

"Uh… just Morgan and I… and I think Hotch," Reid answered.

"JJ what's up?" Morgan inquired.

"We've got a case in San Francisco," she said simply. "When the others arrive let me know, ok?"

Morgan nodded.

"So much for lunch with Layla," Reid murmured.

* * *

Emily walked slowly into work, still tired. She had stayed up late the night before with Morgan, of course. But it wasn't anything a BAU style coffee wouldn't cure. Her first stop, though, was to her desk, needing to drop her stuff off. She saw Morgan there and briefly wondered how he had beaten her there that morning. She went straight for him nonetheless.

"Good morning," she greeted, leaning down to give him a kiss.

"Morning Emily," he replied.

She took a seat and dropped her things.

"Tired?" he asked amused.

"Yeah, and it's all your fault you know," she joked.

"Hey, I didn't hear you complaining last night," he said, giving her a knowing grin. "You should've stayed the night."

Emily shrugged. "I would have had to get up early anyways, you know, to get home and get ready. Next time, though, maybe not on a work night."

"I'll hold you to that," he agreed.

She smiled and then began to rummage for her coffee mug, hoping she'd washed it out the last time she'd used it.

"So, listen," she heard Morgan speak up and she focused on him once again. "There's the Bureau's annual Christmas Party coming up, do you want to go with me?"

"Of course," she answered easily. "Who else would I want to go with?"

He smiled happily and she was glad that she could make his day so easily. They'd been going out for three months now and she hadn't felt this close to anyone in a long time. It was nice to finally be in a relationship.

"So," Derek continued hesitantly. "It looks like we've got a case."

"Yeah? Any details?"

"All I know is its in San Francisco and that I think it was referred to us by the Organized Crime unit."

"Ok," she nodded. "Well, I'm going to grab a cup of coffee so I can function and no one can accuse us of slacking off."

"Ok," he said, smiling. "I'll be here."

* * *

Morgan knocked tentatively on Emily's hotel room door; the urge to check on her was strong, even though she had assured him that she was fine like ten times. But he didn't care because he needed to make sure. Tonight she'd almost gotten hurt and almost was way too close for comfort for Derek.

The door swung open and Emily let out an immediate sigh. "Really Derek, I'm fine."

Looking her over carefully, he noted no visible marks, scars, or scratches. Still he wasn't convinced. He put his hands on each of her shoulders and guided her inside her room. "Just… humour me."

She let out another exasperated sigh, but he could see the hint of a smirk on her lips, a good sign in his book.

"Really, Johnson hits like a girl," she joked.

The un-sub had gotten Emily alone and when he'd found out she was an FBI agent he decided to give her one with the back of his gun to her forehead. Fortunately, the guy hadn't been physically up to the challenge of taking on Emily and she'd easily taken him down after that.

"Still," Morgan added. "I hate that he even touched you…" His hands wandered across her face examining her.

Emily took hold of his hands and gave him a stern stare. "It's going to happen every once in a while."

"What is?"

"One of us getting into danger, coming face to face with an un-sub," she explained. "I need to know that when that happens you can think objectively."

"If you're in trouble I'm going to do everything I can to get you out of trouble," he said, believing he sounded reasonable.

"Derek," Emily scolded, surprising him. "You know our jobs depend on us being able to do them properly and objectively even though we're together."

"Emily," he replied in the same tone of voice. "I would have acted the exact same way even before we got together."

She gave him a pout and he just had to give those lips a peck.

"I'm not Hotch, Em, I can't just turn my feelings off while I'm on the job," he elaborated. "But I know that won't make me do a worse job. Do you?"

Her nod in agreement was slow to come but came nonetheless.

"Good," he said happily. "Now, we've got some time before we take off; let me thoroughly examine you to make sure you're all right."

Emily laughed. "Derek, I'm fine."

He grinned at her. "Humour me, Em."

* * *

Emily sat on the airplane in silence, flipping threw a magazine. The only sound she could hear were whisperings coming from Hotch and JJ, and they were sitting alone at the other end of the plane. Everyone else was clustered together around her. Rossi was sitting to her left, Morgan to her right and Reid was directly across from them.

Rossi leaned in close to her suddenly and murmured in her ear. "Friends indeed."

She shot him a confused look, briefly wondering if he was talking about her and him. But then she realized quickly that that was not the case and she fought a blush.

Rossi gestured towards the chatting pair at the other end of the plane. She followed his nod to see JJ give Hotch a peck on the cheek.

Her eyes wide, she stared back at Rossi. "Did I just see what I thought I saw?"

She couldn't' believe it. Rossi gave her a simple nod.

"What? What did you see?" Morgan wanted in on the conversation.

Emily put her hand to his ear and whispered exactly what she saw in his ear. She didn't expect her boyfriend's exuberant reaction.

"No way!" Derek exclaimed loudly.

She looked across the plane to see that thanks to Derek both JJ and Hotch were now eyeing them suspiciously. Not wanting the two to think they were talking about them she quickly elbowed Derek in the side, hoping he'd provide an explanation to his outburst.

"Um…" he started eloquently. "No way, you're umm… going to the Christmas party?"

Emily eyed Hotch and JJ to see if they bought Derek's quick fix. They did, not before giving them a strange look, first.

She put a hand to her forehead. "Nice one Derek. It's not like everyone doesn't already know we're going together. Couldn't you come up with anything else?"

Derek put his hands up. "Come on, I was in shock, give me a break."

It had been a shocking sight, she conceded. She gave his shoulder a pat, letting him know it was all right.

"Speaking of the party, did you two find dates yet?" Emily changed the subject.

Rossi just shrugged. "Don't worry about me; if worst comes to worse I'll ask one of my ex-wives."

And she wasn't worried; she knew David Rossi had had a ladies man reputation back in the day. She saw nothing in the man now that would indicate he didn't still have that in him.

"How about you Reid?" she asked the youngest member of the team.

Now Reid on the other hand she worried about; he was like a younger brother to her, one that needed protecting.

Reid blushed at her question. "Nah, not yet."

"Come on Reid, you told me you were going to ask that new Spanish agent," Derek added.

"You mean, Layla? Layla's actually of middle-eastern descent. She was born in the U.S. but her parents are Lebanese. They immigrated here just before she was born—"

"Well, sounds like you've got her life story," Rossi commented dryly, getting a chuckle from the group.

"I hear she's as smart as you are, Reid, she could probably give you a run for your money," Morgan continued.

Reid was blushing furiously and Emily had to smile.

"Ask her Reid," Emily persisted. "Before I tell Garcia, and you know what she'll do. She's not exactly shy, you know."

She knew that would be mean, and it did get a shudder from her friend. But it seemed to do the trick.

"Layla is pretty intelligent," he let out a sigh. "Not to mention beautiful."

"That's it," Emily jumped on his acquiescence. "You ask her the minute we land."

"Well, now that we're all pretty much paired up," Rossi started. "What are we going to do about those two?"

They all turned to stare at the unassuming pair. Emily could definitely see the unit chief with the media liaison. They would play off each other perfectly. The perfect mix of light and dark, of seriousness and playfulness. She knew they would do each other some good. God knew that both had been through some tough times lately. With Will's death and Hotch's divorce they both needed someone to bring light into their lives.

"We could set them up with people we know," Reid suggested.

Rossi was one step ahead of her. He shook his head and voiced his own thinking. "No, I think I have a better idea."

Emily grinned; she knew what he was thinking. "I think I like where you're going with this."

But it was Derek who actually put a name to the plan. "Operation Hotch and JJ here we come."

"Ok," Emily said enthusiastically. "How are we going to do this?"

"We should probably get Garcia in on this," Reid suggested.

The laptop in the middle of the four suddenly flickered on to reveal Garcia.

"Did I just hear my name?" she asked.

"Garcia, baby girl, don't you go home?" Morgan joked.

"Hey, I've got work to do too," Garcia said dryly. "Now, what do you guys need?"

They all related to their friend their ideas and in the end they had a viable plan.

"Ok, so it's settled," Emily announced. "They'll be each others blind dates and won't even know it."

"This is going to be great," Garcia exclaimed.

"If it works," Rossi added.

"Oh, it's going to work," Garcia assured. "Just you three do your parts and us girls will do ours."

* * *

Well that's it. I hope you enjoyed. I'll try to get in at least one more update before I fly home in the next two weeks. After that updates should be more regular.

Anyways, good, bad, in the middle, I take any and all reviews, so let me know what you think!

Thanks to my two reviewers: **Bobban** _(yeah I love Morgan and Emily together, I thought they'd make a great couple the minute they brought Emily on the show)_; and **Mint** _(if you love Rossi a lot look for my third companion story that will focus on his point of view to come soon!)_

See ya all soon!


	6. Realization

**A/N:** Hey all! I am super sorry for the really long wait. All I can say is that I do have an excuse (at the end of the story if you care) and that I hope to be back with more regular updates. So, anyways hope you enjoy this chapter. Please R&R! Thanks!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Criminal Minds.

**Chapter 6: Realization:**

Emily was sitting at her desk working away on her lap top when she was interrupted by the arrival of two people.

"Morning Emily," Rossi greeted.

"Good morning, Dave," she replied smiling. "How are you—"

"Let's skip the pleasantries, guys," Garcia butt in. "We've got to get down to business."

Emily and Rossi shared a look. "Business?" Emily wondered out loud.

"Operation Hotch and JJ," Garcia practically whispered, looking right and left for said people.

Emily couldn't resist laughing. "What do you have in mind?"

"I just saw JJ," Garcia said. "She's alone in the break room getting a coffee. We can go giver her our 'proposition.'"

"Now?" Emily asked.

"Yes!" Garcia replied exasperated.

"Ok…" Emily said tentatively, getting up. She saw Morgan coming in and paused.

He gave her a quick kiss when he reached her side. "Where're you going?" he pouted.

"Operation Hotch and JJ calls," she offered as an impatient Garcia pulled at her arm.

"You two do your part!" Garcia shouted at the two men.

Both laughed as they watched them go.

* * *

"But JJ, come on, just listen to us," Garcia pleaded. "He's a really great guy, I swear. And… he has a great butt."

JJ just laughed out loud, and laughed harder when Emily threw Garcia a bewildered look.

Emily and Garcia had cornered their friend. But, so far, the proposition was not being accepted and things were not going according to plan. They were trying their hardest with no luck.

"Sorry Garcia, but… I'm kind of already going with someone," JJ announced.

"What?" both Emily and Garcia exclaimed.

Well this wasn't going to work, Emily mused to herself. JJ needed to be dateless for the whole operation to be successful. Vaguely, she thought the operation was really about seeing their two friends happy. But Emily knew that that could happen if they were together.

"Hey guys look over there, Reid's getting himself a date," JJ suddenly announced.

And she had them there and JJ knew it as she began to walk away from them. Because Emily was curious to see how the youngest team member would fare and Garcia was as well.

So, instead of pestering their blonde friend for more information they followed their young friend instead.

* * *

Morgan watched his girlfriend run off with Penelope to intercept JJ. They were crazy to think they could manipulate two people to get together. Just look at him and Emily, even after getting together they had there share of issues. And they wanted to be together. But they also had a greater share of good times.

And he guessed that that was what made it worth attempting. Because if they could get Hotch and JJ half as happy together as he was with Emily it would be a great thing.

"So…" Rossi prompted, snapping Derek out of his senses.

Morgan glanced over at his fellow agent who happened to be watching him curiously.

"So?" Derek answered.

"What do you think? Should we participate in this crazy scheme?" Rossi questioned.

"You're the one who suggested it," Derek scoffed.

"Well… you're the one who named it," Rossi shot back.

_Touché._

Derek sighed. "I guess we're going to have to give it a go."

Rossi nodded. "Ok, let's give it a shot."

Derek followed Rossi towards Hotch's office, ready to run in a heartbeat. He was about to delve into his bosses personal life, this might not be pretty.

Reaching Hotch's office Rossi knocked on the closed door and without even waiting for an invitation Rossi opened the door barging right in.

When Morgan peeked inside he knew he should have waited. "Oh," Derek exclaimed in surprise. "Are we interrupting?"

Morgan watched as Hotch actually smiled at JJ. "No, what is it?"

"Uh…" Rossi started warily, looking straight at JJ, apparently also surprised by her presence. _Wasn't she supposed to be with Emily and Garcia agreeing to the 'blind date?'_ "We wanted to talk to you about something. But we can come back later."

Without hesitation, JJ stood up quickly. "Don't worry, I was just leaving. Got lots of work to do."

Morgan watched suspiciously as his friend turned to give Hotch a one-hundred watt smile and—if he wasn't mistaken—mouth the words 'Have fun.' Suspicious was exactly what Morgan was as he watched his boss and friend watch the pretty blonde leave.

"What can I do for you two?" Hotch asked as he looked through the files on his desk.

"Hotch, we're not here about business," Rossi informed.

"Oh," he said, looking up at them curiously.

"The team was just talking," Derek took over. "About the party… Hotch we've all got dates and we're worried about you."

That was the truth, at least. The team had always maintained a constant worry over their team leader as to how much work he was doing and how little socializing he did.

"Really… everyone has a date. Even Reid?" Hotch asked.

"Yeah," Rossi answered. "Just asked a fellow agent from the organized crime unit."

"Good for him," Hotch replied. "How about JJ?"

_Uh oh,_ Morgan instantly panicked. What was he going to say?

"Uh… JJ," Morgan said, flustered. "Uh… yeah JJ, we're working on that."

_Hah_, he thought proudly, _not even a lie_.

"You mean, you're going to set her up?" Hotch wondered out loud, in disapproval. "Do you think that's wise? I mean, what if it goes horribly? What if it somehow affects her in a way that will jeopardize her grieving process? You need to be careful."

Morgan was taken aback; he had not considered any of that at all. And as he shared a quick look with Rossi, he knew no one else had either.

Derek did not want to talk about JJ anymore so he frantically diverted the subject. "Ah… ok, we'll keep that in mind… but Hotch we actually came to talk about you."

"Yeah," Rossi continued quickly. "We have a friend. She's young, beautiful, and very attractive. And exactly your type."

"Oh," Hotch answered, surprised. "You want to set me up?"

_Finally,_ Morgan thought. _We're getting somewhere_.

"Yeah," he said, not holding back his long-suffering sigh.

"Sorry guys, I've already got a date," their unit chief assured them.

_What?_

"Ok…" Rossi said, drawing out the tiny word.

Hotch nodded to them and Morgan realized he was waiting for them to leave. "Ok then, we'll just be going."

He and Rossi backed slowly out of Hotch's office, sending their boss a strange look. Shutting the door behind them, the pair shared a look.

"Well… that was awkward," Morgan said slowly.

"To say the least," Rossi agreed.

"What are we going to do?" Morgan asked expectantly of the older agent.

"Tell the girls and incur their wrath."

* * *

Morgan joined the rest of the team, minus Hotch and JJ, in the briefing room, ready to spill about how Operation Hotch and JJ was faltering. He took a seat next to Rossi for appearance of solidarity.

"So," Garcia was quick to question. "Did he agree? Did he say he'd take out our lovely media lady?"

"Uh…" Derek began eloquently.

"No," Rossi finished.

Emily shot him an accusing look.

"What happened guys?" Garcia demanded. "You were supposed to have Hotch in the bag. He was the easy one, that's why we sent you two in."

Derek put his hands up to protect himself from the said wrath. "We tried. He said that he already has a date. What were we supposed to do?"

Looking at Emily's face and Garcia's crossed arms told him they were supposed to do a lot more. But honestly what were they supposed to do? Get Hotch to dump a girl he actually knows for their blind date. Even if it was JJ, Hotch didn't know that.

"Never send a man in to do a woman's job," Emily said grudgingly.

He shot his girlfriend a look of disbelief.

"What about you two? Did you get JJ to agree?" Rossi countered.

Garcia and Emily suddenly looked sheepish, and Derek was about to find out why.

"Uh no… she's already got a date," Garcia related.

"Why didn't you try harder?" he mocked, before intercepting a death glare from his party date and so he backed off.

But Reid, silent up to now, decided not to. "They were too busy getting distracted, and chasing me around to try harder."

Morgan and Rossi shot the girls a look.

"What, we needed to see if Reid got a date," Garcia defended.

"You should have seen the two of them together," Emily gushed. "They make the cutest couple."

Everyone took turns attempting to make the young genius blush, teasing him incessantly until he finally broke out scarlet. They were totally off topic, until Garcia rounded them up.

"Guys, guys," she called. "Focus! Operation Hotch and JJ is faltering even before it's started. We've got to do something!"

"What, what can we do, they've both got dates?" Morgan wondered, also wondering if their plan was a lost cause.

"I don't know," Emily added. "But what I do know is that those two belong together!"

Rossi shrugged. "So what are we going to do?"

They were all silent, contemplating, until Reid spoke up surprising them all.

"Whatever we can do to split them from their date's sides at the party and push them together."

"How?" Garcia wanted to know.

"Ok, here's how. The girls will intercept JJ and her date. Profile him; figure out any weaknesses you can play up to JJ. We guys will do the same with Hotch's date. Then we'll push JJ and Hotch together insisting that they dance together. That should get them talking. The atmosphere will do the rest."

All agreed with Reid's plan and discussed further details.

Morgan saw that they were going to follow through with the plan even if it killed them.

* * *

Emily left the briefing room feeling slightly confused. On the one hand she was all for Operation Hotch and JJ. They would make the hottest couple. On the other, they both already had dates. And she felt a little uneasy to mess with that.

"You ok?" she heard Derek ask her concernedly

She looked up to see him by her side. She was a little surprised to see that she'd just stopped in front of the briefing room.

Emily smiled at Derek warmly. "Yeah, I guess I was just thinking… and it was too much for my brain to think and walk at the same time."

She was joking, but she could still see some of the concern for her at the corners of his eyes, even though he smiled back.

"Ok…" he drew out. "Do you want to talk about it?"

She shook her head. "No, really, I'm fine."

"I'm just a desk away…" he proposed. He started to walk away but hesitated. And in that moment's hesitation he gave her a quick kiss. Just as quickly he walked way, leaving Emily to sigh.

_Sometimes she just loved that guy._

"Whoa," she said out loud to herself. Blushing furiously, realizing she was talking to herself, she switched back to thinking mode. 'Did I just think what I thought I had thought?'

Emily noticed that some people were starting to stare at her non-moving position. So she forced herself to walk and think at the same time.

'Cause I think I just thought that I love Derek,' she continued to frantically think. 'Because that would be… interesting, if it were true."

Of course, she hadn't really loved anyone since she was a teenager. And that had eventually hurt so badly. Maybe that's why she hadn't let herself love again, because she'd always associated love with hurt.

But thinking of Derek—his warm smile, his gentle touch and embrace, his ability to comfort her so effortlessly—she knew…

'I love him,' she realized.

"Emily?"

Emily jumped at her name being spoken so suddenly. She blinked a few times as if coming out of a trance and then looked around.

Ok, there were coffee makers, microwaves a fridge—she was in the break room. And there standing next to the counter was David Rossi. She continued to blink at him.

"Emily, are you all right?" he asked, clearly worried.

Of all the people to find her while having an epiphany it had to be him.

"Never been better," she said truthfully.

Because, now that she knew how she felt about Derek, that she loved him and it didn't hurt, she felt absolutely wonderful.

She grabbed a cup of water under Rossi's watchful gaze.

"Emily—"

He was going to question her, profile her and she wasn't in the mood. She cut him off. "Got to get back to work."

And she walked back to her desk towards the man she loved, Derek Morgan.

* * *

'I love him!' Emily thought nervously, as she put the finishing touches to her make up.

It was all she could think about for the past two days since she'd come to the life altering realization. But, now with the wonderful feelings she had before came the fears and worries.

She looked at herself in the mirror. She was wearing a sparkly black cocktail dress, perfect for the holiday season and the Christmas Party. What wasn't so perfect for the holidays was the frown on her perfectly done up face.

Yeah the love she felt for Derek didn't come with the hurt she was accustomed to, but what if it would later on? Could she handle that? Could they get through any obstacles thrown their way?

And her main worry, the one she was almost afraid to voice was: What if he didn't feel the same?

That would definitely hurt.

Her thoughts were disrupted by an insistent knock on her front door. She knew who it was and she rushed to get it.

Swinging the door open she was instantaneously bombarded by the one-hundred watt smile of Derek Morgan. His smile did wonders for her. It lit her up so that not one single one of her previous thoughts remained in her brain.

"Hey there, beautiful," he greeted smoothly, having her blushing furiously.

"Hey," she took a second to size him up in his tuxedo. Man, she was the luckiest girl in the world. "You look great."

"Not even half as good as you look," he told her.

She laughed and said, "Just a sec, I'll grab my purse."

Emily left the room and came back to see a small package in his hands.

"What's that?" she asked, pretty pleased.

"Your Christmas present," he said obviously. She made to snatch it from his hands. "Uh uh… you can have it on two conditions."

"Conditions on my Christmas present?" she pouted, really amused.

"That's the rules, take it or leave," he said teasingly.

She made a show of giving a long-suffering sigh. "Ok… I'll take it."

He leaned into her giving her a thorough kiss, seemingly not able to help himself. "Ok, the first condition is you've got to open it on Christmas Day."

That was easy. "Done."

"Second condition… I've got to be there when you open it."

"Also done," she said amused.

The look he gave her rivalled the 100W smile from just before and for a second Emily somehow knew she had nothing to worry about.

"Good, now let's go get this party over with so we can hurry back and have our own party," he joked.

Emily laughed happily. "You're such a lecher, Derek."

* * *

Well that's it for now. Sorry about the long way. But here's my excuse: So, I was in Lebanon and Egypt for a month and a half. When we got back the airline totally lost our luggage. In the meanwhile, we got back on a Monday and I got a call on the Wednesday of that week for a job interview. The interview was on the Friday of the same week. I went to the interview and got the job that very day. I started work right away the next Monday. And I've been working ever since. The job comes with a lot of stress, long hours and tonnes of overtime. So, basically I've been working and sleeping. It's been very boring. So that's my excuse. I think it's a pretty good one. Oh, and to top it off, now I have yet another evil cold. It sucks!

But moving on…Thanks to all who reviewed: **star jelly, beth** _(I wish I was still on holidays, but yeah they were great);_ **Confetti Leaves** _(Rossi possibly will find some happiness, but not before he has some hard times first__**);**_** Bobban**; and **allie.**

Oh, and thanks to anyone who has put this story and me on alerts. You're all great!

So, I really want to update soon, so hopefully I will. But my excuse above will last for awhile at least until Christmas time. But I will try my hardest.

So, see you all soon!


	7. It's Love

**A/N:** Hey all! I hope you enjoy this chapter. Please R&R! Thanks!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Criminal Minds.

**Chapter 7: It's Love:**

Emily and Morgan walked into the hotel lobby hand in hand, ready for the festivities that night and for their plan to unfold. She had a great feeling about tonight that could have been due entirely to the man at her side, but she felt that nothing could possibly go wrong.

They made their way to the banquet room where their party would be held. Just as they were to step through the entrance she felt Derek tug on her hand, stopping them in the wide doorway.

She turned around confused, only to find herself engulfed in his arms.

"Derek?" she said, smiling.

He looked above them and she followed his gaze. Mistletoe.

She looked back at him to find him smiling mischievously at her. She smiled back, amused, like he really needed a reason to kiss her. Still, she let him pull her close, wrapping his arms around her. She tilted her head to the side and closed her eyes waiting for the second their lips would touch in one of their electrifying kisses.

But instead of a kiss they heard the sound of throat clearing and she was pretty sure it was aimed at them. They pulled apart reluctantly, each one ready to hurt the person who dared interrupt their moment.

"Rossi, man," Morgan exclaimed in annoyance. "You are seriously cramping my style."

Rossi eyed them weirdly. "Yeah, well… sorry about that. Garcia wanted me to let you guys know that JJ called."

"Where's Garcia?" Emily inquired, wondering why she didn't just tell her herself.

"She said she'll be here in a minute, with that guy, uh…" Rossi trailed off.

"Kevin," Morgan offered.

"Yeah, and that both you're phones are off. That's why she called me," Rossi explained. "JJ's going to be here in fifteen minutes. She wants you, Emily, and Garcia to meet her outside."

Emily pulled out her phone and sure enough it was off. "Thanks for relaying the message."

"Ok," Morgan spoke up, squeezing Emily's shoulder. "You're going to need your coat. I'll go get it for you."

She shot him a thankful look as he walked away, loving him even more.

"Well that was nice," Rossi pointed out.

Emily turned around to intercept the familiar raised eyebrow look of David Rossi. "Derek _is_ a nice man," Emily assured, a little annoyed.

"I know that… but, it's just more apparent now that you two are together," Rossi elaborated. She knew he had more to say so she waited. "I think its all because of you. You bring out the best in people, Emily."

She hadn't expected that and her face broke out in a smile. "Thank you Dave." And then she didn't know why, she leaned into him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Realizing what she'd done, she pulled back to give him a wide-eyed stare. He was shooting her a curious, but otherwise unreadable look.

"Uh… that was nice of you to say."

Rossi was about to say something else, but didn't get a chance to.

"Here's your jacket Emily," Morgan announced, reappearing at her side.

She turned towards him to take it from him only to find Derek and Rossi locked in an intense stare.

_Uh oh,_ she thought_. She did not have time for this._

"Um…I'm going to wait outside for Garcia and JJ," she said quickly, walking away.

Truthfully, she was trying to escape. She knew she had committed a blunder. She had no idea why she had done what she'd done. All she knew was that it was an impulse. One that she would not let happen again.

* * *

She had left them alone together, on purpose. Morgan knew; she was running from his questions. But that had him confused; why would she run if it was nothing? Of course, she could have probably just wanted to get outside and start the mission. Yeah, that was probably it.

"Uh Derek," he heard Rossi speak up.

Derek focused his gaze on the older agent, looking at him with uncontained suspicion.

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be? I only just saw the woman I love kiss another guy," Morgan answered with unbridled hostility.

"It was only a kiss on the cheek," Rossi began to explain. "Wait a minute… The woman you love?"

Realization dawned on his face, just hearing what he said. Wow, he loved her; it was almost hard to believe.

'I mean, I've only been dating Emily for four months,' he thought.

But he had cared for her for so much longer.

"Yeah, I love her," Morgan confessed, all hostility gone because of the topic at hand.

"Wow… you two are pretty serious then?"

It was a question, but Derek realized he was mostly speaking to himself.

Derek answered anyways. "Yeah we are."

"Has she said anything to you?" Rossi pried.

It was a question that had multiple intentions; at least that's the way Derek took it. David Rossi was really asking if he had told her and if so did Emily reciprocate his feelings? David Rossi was fishing. And what he had hoped to hook was his girlfriend.

"Not yet," Morgan answered. "But I haven't told her yet, either. But I intend to remedy that tonight."

He hoped his tone conveyed the back-off attitude he felt.

"Well… good luck with that," Rossi replied with actually sincerity.

The guy was confusing the heck out of him.

"Uh… thanks."

"I'm going to find Reid, make sure he still has his date, maybe give him a few pointers," Rossi commented.

He walked away leaving Morgan bewildered.

* * *

Emily wrapped her coat around her tighter and stuffed her hands into the pockets. It was freezing out there.

"Garcia, are you sure JJ said she wanted us to meet her outside?" Emily whined.

Garcia shot her an oh-my-God look; to be fair, Emily had been whining since they had got out there, and deserved the look.

"Yes, she specifically said, 'meet me in front of the doors,'" Garcia related. "Besides, don't you want to catch a glimpse of this date who's supposed to be better than our boss-man?"

"Well, yeah," Emily grumbled. "I just wish I didn't have to freeze my ass off to do it."

Garcia let out a long-suffering sigh that ended in an excited noise.

"What Penelope? What's up?" Emily asked quickly.

"Speaking of Hotch, here he comes," Garcia announced.

"Really, where? Can you see his date?" Emily asked eagerly.

Garcia pointed to Hotch walking towards the hotel from the parking lot. But as Emily glanced around she could see that he was definitely solo.

"Where's his date?" Emily wondered aloud.

"Don't know," Garcia answered, clearly puzzled.

When he finally reached them Emily greeted him with a smile. "Hey Hotch!"

She was dying to question him but always deferred to the good little employee mode with him. Garcia on the other hand…

"Boss-man, where's the date?" she demanded.

Hotch smiled. "She's actually already here. I'm supposed to meet her inside. Find me later so I can introduce you."

The girls nodded dumbly.

"What are you two doing out here?" he asked them.

"Meeting JJ," Emily answered for the pair.

"She's supposed to be here already. Did you see her in the parking lot?" Garcia inquired.

"No, sorry. See you inside," Hotch answered, walking away.

They watched him go.

"Well, he was in a rush," Garcia commented.

"Guess his date must be hot," Emily said mostly to herself. "Ouch!"

Garcia had suddenly slapped her shoulder.

"What was that for?"

"No one is as hot as our lovely JJ," Garcia scolded.

"Ok… sheesh," Emily rubbed her shoulder. "Garcia did you ever take my advice and start the decaf?"

"Ha ha."

* * *

Morgan stood alone waiting for his girlfriend, vaguely wondering what was taking so long and also wondering when the party would get started, when he spotted one part of Operation Hotch and JJ alone near the refreshment table.

"Hotch, man," Morgan greeted, as he approached his friend. "What are you doing here alone?"

"I could ask you the same question," Hotch countered.

"My girl's waiting outside for JJ," Morgan informed.

"Your girl?" Hotch questioned, disapprovingly. "I'm guessing you wouldn't want Emily to find out about that particular endearment. I won't mention it."

Morgan got scared. His girlfriend was notoriously known around the FBI for abhorring any references to chauvinistic ways. She'd kill him. "Please don't."

Hotch let out a chuckle that indicated to Derek he was joking. Who knew?

"I'm kidding Derek… My date's meeting me here. She should be here in a few minutes," Hotch offered.

"Cool," Morgan replied, containing his curiosity. "Mind if I wait with you, at least until Emily gets back?"

"Go right ahead," Hotch allowed, graciously.

The two men stood there in a moment's silence until Hotch spoke up.

"So you and Emily… how's that going?" Hotch asked with a bit of awkwardness.

"It's going really good," Derek answered truthfully, as he watched people walk by mingling. He spotted Rossi in the corner of the room talking with a pretty redhead. _Good,_ he thought, _the man has his own date_. "Uh… you knew Rossi back in the day. What was he like?"

Hotch looked at him, startled at the change of subject. "Well… he was pretty much the same as he is now. Driven is a good word to describe him then and now. Why?"

"I heard he had a streak with womanizing," Morgan said outright.

Hotch frowned. "Well… I don't really like to talk about my co-workers personal lives. But that was mostly a rumour."

"Mostly?" Derek needed to know.

"Well… I know he went out with a few women in the bureau. Usually it ended quickly. One actually ended up being his first wife, I think."

"I see," Derek nodded, taking this info in.

"Why the sudden interest in David Rossi's personal life?" Hotch asked, looking at him with his profiler's stare.

"Uh… no reason. Just curious," he answered lamely. He had one more question, though. "Did he ever go after a woman already attached to someone else?"

"Derek, what's up?" Hotch asked in a no-nonsense voice.

"Nothing, nothing, never mind," he quickly backtracked. "Forget I asked."

They stood there in silence once again.

"There was one," Hotch interrupted the silence.

* * *

"JJ!" Emily exclaimed, so happy to see her friend walking towards her. She was freezing. And she momentarily forgot why they were out there. But Garcia didn't.

"JJ, where's your date?" Garcia questioned.

JJ laughed at her friend's exuberance. "I'm meeting him inside," she answered.

Something twitched inside Emily's brain at her friends answer. She watched as JJ flipped open her phone. "Yep, he should already be inside."

"All right, let's get going," Garcia said, her impatience imminent.

Emily continued to stare at her friend strangely, something was off but she didn't know what. "By the way, what's his name?" She couldn't believe she hadn't asked this question sooner.

"Oh crap!" JJ exclaimed, surprising Emily. "I forgot my purse in the car. You guys go on in, I'll meet you inside!"

Well, there was no purse in sight. So it was the truth. Still…

"Nah, we can wait for you," Garcia assured and Emily's face fell. She was cold.

"You guys, your lips are starting to turn blue. Go inside, I'll be there in a sec," JJ ordered and Emily was quick to listen.

* * *

They were all standing together in a group, Emily at his side, Rossi with his date, Ariel, Reid and Layla, Garcia and Kevin, and Hotch. Emily and Garcia had rushed inside to find them to announce that JJ would be inside in a minute and her date was somewhere inside. Morgan and the others surveyed the room eyeing every lone guy as a potential.

"Hotch, where's your date?" Garcia jumped on his alone-ness. "I thought she was already here. Don't tell me she stood you up?"

Garcia looked annoyed and Morgan was ready to tell her to calm down. But Hotch's answer cut him off and had him itching with curiosity.

"No, in fact, here she comes."

Everyone looked at Hotch and followed his gaze, craning their necks to catch a glimpse of the girl who was in JJ's place.

Morgan's mouth dropped open in confusion when the only person who seemed to be walking their way was JJ herself. What was going on?

He heard Emily murmur next to his ear in disbelief, "I knew it," only loud enough for him to hear.

Morgan stared down at his girlfriend wondering what she meant before returning his gaze to his blonde friend who now stood in front of Hotch. And watched as the media liaison gave their boss a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Hey JJ," Hotch greeted, in front of their audience. "Thanks for coming."

"Wouldn't have missed it for the world," she answered, beaming.

The pair turned their attention onto the bewildered faces of their friends, waiting expectantly for a reaction that would inevitably done.

"You two—" Morgan heard his girlfriend pronounce, unable to get more out.

"What's—" Rossi attempted.

"No way!" Morgan explained the feeling of the entire team.

"Ok, what the heck guys?" only Penelope managed to articulate.

Reid put his hand up to speak, seemingly having put it all together. "I believe that Hotch and JJ—"

Penelope held up a hand to cut the young genius off quickly. Reid's face fell, and Morgan gave his friend a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

"Nope, I want to hear it from them."

They were all very surprised when the couple just burst into laughter. They waited for them to calm down in annoyance. When they finally did the couple explained that they couldn't resist and that they'd heard them planning on the plane and decided to have some fun.

"So all this was to… get revenge on us?" Emily asked. It was clear to Derek that his girlfriend was going to be disappointed if it was all just a ploy, a trick on them.

"No… not all of it," JJ assured, an infuriating smirk on her face.

"We did actually think it was a good idea for us to come together," Hotch elaborated

"We just wanted to do it our way," JJ explained.

All continued to stare at the couple, still bewildered.

"We're going to give you time to process," Hotch told them. "JJ would you care to dance?"

"Love too."

They walked away holding hands as the team continued to stare.

"I can't believe them," Garcia murmured, deflated.

* * *

"I still can't believe they tricked us," Garcia said in outrage.

"Honey, weren't you the ones who tried to trick them first," Kevin pointed out.

But pointing it out was the wrong thing to do. She slapped his shoulder in reply.

"Ouch!" Kevin exclaimed.

Everyone laughed out loud.

"Kevin has a point," Emily spoke up. "We were the ones messing with them first."

"For a good reason," Garcia pouted.

"We know, baby girl, we know," Morgan comforted.

"If JJ thinks inviting us over for Christmas will make up for this, she's got another thing coming!" Garcia announced.

"Penelope we already knew we were going to JJ's for Christmas," Morgan pointed out.

"Yeah remember we didn't want JJ to be alone," Reid offered.

"Yeah I guess…" she trailed off.

Emily let out a sigh. "I for one am not going to pout any longer… I want to have some fun tonight."

She pulled on Derek's arms. "And you're going to dance with me."

They left behind their group of friends, hoping they'd have fun too.

Emily put her arms around Derek's neck, letting his arms encircle her waist. She sighed contently as she put her head on his broad shoulder and swayed to the music. It was very nice and very soothing and she had the urge to pull back and tell him just that.

Ready to let him know how she felt, she was caught of guard when she found him watching her with such intense eyes. Her open mouth closed and she couldn't take her eyes from his loving look.

"Emily," he spoke her name, laughter behind his words. "What's up?"

He smiled at her and she almost melted.

"I… I am just so glad…" she started tentatively. He nodded for her to go on, knowing she had more to say. "…that … that you pulled me onto that dance floor four months ago."

He chuckled lightly, placing a kiss on her forehead. "So am I," he agreed sincerely.

She leaned back into him this time hugging him tightly, pretty much stopping the dancing.

"Emily…"

There was a sense of urgency to the tone in which he said her name. She pulled back to gaze back into his eyes. She could tell he had something important to say.

"Yeah?" she answered.

Instead of answering he took her hand and pulled her quickly out of the noisy banquet room, passing by their friends who gave them curious looks. They didn't stop until they found a quiet deserted spot in the busy hotel.

"Derek, what is it?" she asked urgently, her hands on his arms to hold him in place.

She watched him take a few deep breaths, she was almost worried. He had something really important to say, she could tell.

"Em," he started, using his nickname for her. His hands went up to cup her face. She smiled at his tender touch. "I care about you so much."

She reached a hand up to caress his own face. "I care about you too," she assured.

He took her hand in his free one and placed a kiss on her palm.

"Emily, I love you."

She stared up at his wonderful face. She could tell he was truly sincere and she could also see the anxiousness in his eyes as he waited for her to speak, to respond.

_He didn't know,_ she thought, _how much she loved him._ He was everything to her and she could not stand to be apart from him for even one second.

"Emily?" he said unsurely.

She was ready to burst with happiness. That's probably why she burst out a second later, "I love you, too, Derek!"

She watched as Derek took a moment to make sense of her jumbled words and then as a smile broke out on his face.

He chuckled. "You had me scared for a second there."

She smiled and kissed his cheek. "I'm sorry… I was just letting the moment wash over me and sink in. You really do love me?"

Derek wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. "Of course, I love you. You're my world."

She knew she was blushing furiously but she didn't care. He loved her and all her fears about getting hurt were for nothing.

"You're mine too!"

* * *

Well that's it for now. This would be a good ending to the story. But anyone who has read For You, Always, knows that there's a lot more in store for the lovely couple.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I will try to update very soon!

Thanks to all those who reviewed: **kdzl; Bobban; beth; and star jelly**.

See ya all soon!


	8. Presents

**A/N:** What? I'm updating on a Tuesday? Yes I know, strange. It's just this week has been a bit of a drag (I know, it's only Tuesday, yikes) and I needed to cheer myself up a bit. So, I hope this cheers anyone who's reading it up too! Leave me a review and tell me what you think!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Criminal Minds, sadly. I'd definitely be in it if that were the case…

**Chapter 8: Presents:**

Emily sat in the loveseat of JJ's living room, the man she loved sitting right next to her as she listened to her friends and JJ's family exchange anecdotes while they all had a good time that Christmas Eve.

At the moment they were laughing at something Reid had said, but she had missed it, because she had been too busy staring at her boyfriend with adoring eyes instead. Derek must have noticed her watching him, because he suddenly put his arm around her shoulders and placed a soft kiss on her cheek. Just like that, out of nowhere. And then he was back in on the conversation.

If she was one of those girly-girls she'd be sighing right now and getting stars in her eyes. But she wasn't. Or so she thought; a second later a content sigh came out of her mouth.

She shot a hand up to cover her traitorous lips and gave a quick look around the room, hoping no one had noticed. But no such luck, if JJ beaming at her was any indication, she had definitely been noticed.

"Emily," JJ suddenly spoke up; interrupting the conversation. "There's something in the kitchen I want you to see."

"Now?" Emily replied, knowing that this couldn't be good. All eyes were on them.

"Yes now," JJ replied, smiling disturbingly wide at her.

"Ok…" Emily trailed off, standing up.

"You too Garcia," JJ added.

Now she knew this wasn't going to be pretty.

"Ok, sugar pea," Garcia said easily.

They all followed JJ to the kitchen with curious eyes trailing after them. Emily had caught Derek's gaze before leaving the room and he looked more amused then scared like she was. She'd have to scold him later for laughing at her.

Once safely in the kitchen Emily turned to question JJ only to be caught off guard by JJ's sudden outburst in exaltation.

"Something changed!" she said happily.

Emily genuinely had no idea what her blonde friend was talking about. "What do you mean?"

"You're glowing!" JJ exclaimed. "Isn't she Penelope?"

Garcia took a second to examine her uncomfortable brunette friend and then her face lit up. "Oh my God! You are glowing! What happened? Are you pregnant?"

"Oh, that would be totally awesome!" JJ exclaimed before Emily could deny it. "Henry would have a little friend to play with."

"You and Morgan are going to have the prettiest baby!" Garcia gushed.

Emily stood there flabbergasted as her two overzealous friends continued the slanderous exchange, even going so far as to suggest possible names for the imaginary child.

"Girls, let the poor woman speak!"

Emily turned to see who had come to the rescue. Surprised to find that it was Amy Jareau, JJ's mother.

"Can't you see you've got the poor girl tongue tied?" Amy continued, coming over to give Emily a comforting pat on her shoulder.

"Thank you Amy," Emily managed to finally get out. She turned her attention back to the two eager faces. "No, I am not pregnant."

She watched as each of their faces fell. She heard Amy laugh, presumably at her daughter and friend's crestfallen images and then she was gone from the kitchen.

"I hope you two haven't said anything to anyone about this?" Emily scolded. She did not need rumours being spread about her at the Bureau, even though it was all good natured.

"No," JJ assured. "We just came up with it now."

"Good," she replied, turning to leave, only to be stopped in her tracks.

"But you are glowing," Garcia piped up. "What's up?"

Emily turned around only to find her friends staring at her with happiness for her in their eyes. This was hard for her, confiding in friends. She'd never really had any girlfriends in the past. Until she joined the BAU, she couldn't really list any women that she would trust with her secrets. Getting along with men was her thing; always having a guy as her best friend. Come to think of it, that's probably why she got along with Derek so well.

"Come on, Em," JJ pleaded. "You can tell us."

She stared at them. No she hadn't really had girlfriends in the past, but she did now.

"Ok, at the Christmas party," she paused and they nodded for her to go on. "Derek told me that he loves me."

The two blondes surprised Emily by squealing in delight. So out of character for the two, well at least for JJ.

"That is so great!" JJ praised.

"How do you feel about him?" Garcia wanted to know.

"I love him," she said simply, covering her ears at another round of squeals.

The girls proceeded to prod her for details, which she gave to get it over with. Finally, they were close to being finished with the subject.

"I'm so happy for you Emily," JJ told her.

"Yeah me too," Garcia added.

The two began to leave the kitchen but Emily had a card up her sleeve and she was ready to play it.

"Wait a sec," she spoke up, waiting for the two blondes to turn around. "I'm not the only one doing some glowing around here."

Garcia stared at her in confusion and only caught on when Emily raised an eyebrow in JJ's direction.

"JJ? What happened?" Garcia burst out, turning to the blushing woman.

JJ gave them a sheepish look. "Nothing… ok, something. But it's not a big deal."

"Uh huh, I think we'll be the judge of that," Emily demanded.

JJ shot her a glare before breaking out into a smile. "Last night… Hotch kissed me…"

This time it was her turn to do the squealing. She couldn't help it, she was very happy for the two. And this time it was her turn to bombard her with questions.

Finally, after much gushing and analyzing the three women left the kitchen re-entering the living room, with stoic looks on their faces.

Emily sat down next to Derek who stared at her as if she had two heads.

"Is everything all right? We heard a lot of screaming," Derek asked concernedly.

"Derek thought someone was attacking you," Hotch informed, amused.

"So did you," Rossi piped up.

"So what was it?" Reid wanted to know.

The three women each shared a look with each other before bursting out laughing. Leaving everyone confused as heck.

* * *

"That was fun," Derek commented as he walked into Emily's apartment after her.

"Yeah it was," Emily agreed, as she struggled to pull off her jacket. Derek came around and pulled it off for her. "Thanks."

"It was nice to see JJ and Hotch together. I still don't understand how they both say they're just friends," he commented.

He caught Emily's knowing smirk. "Still not going to tell me what that was all about tonight?"

"Nope," she answered concisely.

He sidled up to her, putting his hands on her hips. "Even if I'm extra nice?"

Emily laughed. "You're going to be extra nice anyways. Or else I won't invite you to stay tonight," she teased.

Derek gave her a pout. "Not fair."

She leaned in giving him a quick peck on the lips. "I know."

She wiggled out of his grasp and he reluctantly let go and followed her towards her bedroom.

He sat on her bed as he watched her go around the room changing out of her dress and into her black nightgown.

"So, tomorrows Christmas Day," he started conversationally.

She stopped to smile at him, clearly amused at his astute observation. "It is."

"I have two presents for you," he let her know.

"Really?" she said happily.

He nodded. Going slowly, he continued, "But, I can't decide whether to give you one or both."

She frowned. "Why can't you give me both?"

"Well… I'm still waiting," he answered truthfully.

She continued to frown in confusion, coming to sit next to him. "For what?'

"Remember that conversation we had after the case in Florida a few weeks ago?" he asked.

He watched as realization dawned on her face. He knew she knew what he was talking about.

He sure remembered.

_Derek walked off the plane and went straight for Emily, wrapping his arm around her shoulders._

"_Derek…" she warned._

"_What? We're done, off the clock. I think its ok for me to give my girlfriend a hug," he replied._

_She gave him a frown but let herself lean into his embrace nonetheless. He smiled. They climbed into the waiting black SUV, Derek in the drivers seat._

"_That was a bad one," he commented, meaning the case they just came back from._

"_Yeah," she agreed. "Makes you wonder about family and how they can go so wrong."_

_He nodded. "Yeah there are some messed up ones out there."_

"_Like mine, for example. I called my mom to see what she's doing for Christmas. She said she's spending it in Greece with her new boyfriend. Didn't even ask about me."_

"_Ouch," he winced. He knew about Emily's family life and growing up. He had to say he didn't like her mother very much. "I'm sorry," he reached over and rubbed her shoulder soothingly._

_She gave him a small smile. "Don't be. Some people just weren't meant to be parents."_

_He nodded and turned on the car. But before he started to drive away he had something more to say._

"_My mother on the hand is great," he started, then winced. He knew that sounded like a taunt. "I mean… I've umm… told her a lot about you and us and she'd like to meet you."_

"_I've already met your mother and sisters," Emily pointed out._

"_Yeah… but that wasn't under the best of circumstances, you know," he said._

_She nodded._

"_She wants me to come home for a few days at Christmas," he started. "And I'd like you to come with me."_

"_Oh!" she said surprised. He waited for her to elaborate, but she just sat there in shock._

"_So?" he prompted._

"_I… I don't know, Derek," Emily hesitated. "That seems… awfully… personal."_

_He gave her an incredulous look. 'Well we are dating; I'd say that's pretty personal."_

"_You know what I mean…" He shook his head. "I mean… I'd feel like I'd be invading on a private moment."_

"_You wouldn't," he assured. "Trust me. They all want you there. I want you there. It would mean a lot to me."_

"_I… I…" Emily continued to stumble._

_He could see he had caused her distress, something he didn't want to do. And he realized that maybe this was going a bit fast for her._

"_Ok…" he said quickly. "Just think about it. You don't have to give me an answer now."_

And he hadn't asked for an answer since. But since he was leaving in a day, he thought that now would be a good time to know.

"So?" he asked.

"Are you sure they want me there?" Emily questioned.

"They call me almost everyday wondering when I'm going to bring my girlfriend home to meet them," he assured her.

"You haven't hyped me up to be something I'm not, have you?" she asked.

"I only tell them that you're smart, funny, beautiful, an all around Goddess," he joked.

"Derek!"

"I've only told them the truth," he reassured.

"Uh huh," she said sceptically. "I don't want to disappoint them or you."

He kissed her forehead. "You couldn't… does that mean you'll go?"

After a moments deliberation she replied, "Yes."

"Great!" he exclaimed, jumping off the bed. "I'll call my mom!"

* * *

"Merry Christmas," Derek announced cheerfully, happy he could hand over his two presents to Emily. "Number one and two."

He passed her an envelope and a small box, while watching her face light up.

"Merry Christmas to you too, and thank you," she replied happily, taking both presents from his hands.

Derek watched Emily look from one present to the other, seemingly, contemplating which one to open first.

"Emily," he laughed. "I'm pretty sure you know what this is." He indicated the envelope.

"Shh…" she scolded. "Don't take the fun out of it."

He continued to laugh; enjoying her childlike curiosity as she carefully opened the envelope first. She pulled out the contents, a huge smile on her face.

"Two tickets to Chicago! This is great! Now who am I going to take with me?" she teased.

"Ha, ha," he said dryly.

She leaned in and kissed him. "You know there's no one else I'd rather spend my time with," she reassured.

He nodded. "I know. Now open the other one."

This time anticipation got the better of Emily and she ripped open the sparkly gold paper off the small cube box.

Derek waited anxiously for her to lift the lid, hoping he did right with his present.

"Wow!" Emily gasped out.

Still scared, he looked up at her face to gauge her reaction. She was smiling, a good sign.

"Do you like it?" he asked tentatively.

"Like it?" she said sceptically, as she slipped the delicate gold chain link bracelet out of the box. "Derek, I love it! But… this is too much."

"No way," he denied. He took the bracelet from her and started to put it on her wrist. "Nothing is too much for you… I'd give you the world if I could, you know?"

She looked up to meet his gaze. He hoped his eyes conveyed how much he loved her.

The smile faded from her face to be replaced by one that Derek read as curiosity realized. And she answered, "I know."

His hand went up to caress her face briefly before he leaned in and placed a soft chaste kiss on her lips. It was quick and sweet and when he pulled back he felt satisfied when he saw Emily's eyes still closed and a content sounding sigh leaving her lips.

"Derek," she whispered, eyes still closed. "You are amazing."

He chuckled and she opened her eyes.

"Ok, now it's your turn," she said happily. "Though, my present isn't nearly as extravagant as yours."

He shook his head. "You know you didn't' even have to get me anything."

"Of course I did! And I wanted to!" she protested.

Derek took the largish box from her hands. He smiled at the penguin wrapping paper and slowly peeled it open. Inside he found many books.

"Every single Kurt Vonnegut novel there is," she told him.

He pulled one out examining it. These weren't just any Kurt Vonnegut novels, he soon realized.

"Emily, these are all first editions," he commented in surprise.

"I know that it isn't anything like a Jane Austen first edition, but maybe someday…" she brushed it off.

He put a hand to her chin, forcing her to look him in the eye. "Emily, _this_ is amazing."

He wanted her to know how much he appreciated her effort. It must have taken her awhile to put all this together.

"It was nothing really… some of them I picked up a while ago. The rest I found through the internet," she assured. "Your gift is—"

He shut her up quickly with the touch of his lips to hers. Derek didn't want to hear her putting down her gift anymore.

After a minute they pulled apart.

"What was that for?" Emily whispered.

"For being the best," he let her know.

She grinned. "Well, in that case… come here."

Derek let her pull him to her, enjoying letting her have the control. She quickly kissed him passionately. He put his arms around her, holding her tight. But she was having none of that. Emily pulled back to grin at him. She pushed him to lie back on the floor and climbed up over him to straddle his body.

"Merry Christmas Derek," she breathed out, before she leaned down to give him a kiss that he felt to his toes.

She trailed her kisses down his jaw to his neck all the while unbuttoning his shirt.

They were so lost in the moment that it took them a good minute to notice the knock coming at Emily's door.

Emily paused in her ministrations.

"Ignore it," Derek suggested.

She paused a moment longer. "I can't… what if it's important/"

He nodded. He knew what she meant. It was their FBI side that didn't allow them to ever just ignore anything.

Groaning in frustration, Emily pulled herself off of him. Derek sat up on the floor, his shirt still open; he was curious to see who it was.

"Dave!" he heard Emily exclaim in surprise.

"Hi Emily," he heard Rossi greet. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas to you too," she said cheerfully. She was standing in the doorway blocking his view of the man. Something he thought she did on purpose.

"I was just in the neighbourhood and I thought I'd drop off your Christmas present," Derek heard Rossi iterate.

"Aww Dave you know you didn't have to," she gushed.

"I wanted to… I was also wondering if you were free for breakfast," the older agent asked.

"Oh… uh…I'm kind of not alone," she answered.

_Kind of?_ Derek thought. _I'm right here_.

Emily stepped to the side so that Derek could finally see the man and he him.

"Oh," Rossi spoke up. It wasn't Derek's imagination, the man sounded disappointed. "Merry Christmas Derek."

"Yeah you too, Rossi," Derek replied, trying his hardest to inflect some holiday good cheer into his voice.

But it was hard. It seemed like every time he turned around there was Rossi with his girlfriend. He would be happy when they were miles away in Chicago.

"Would you like to come in?" Emily asked politely.

Morgan stared hard at the man, almost daring him to say yes.

Rossi gave him a curious look before turning his attention to Emily. "No, its ok. It looks like you're… busy."

Emily sent him a look, but he wasn't sure what she wanted him to do. They _were _busy.

"Ok…" she emphasized. "Well then… I have a present for you too. One second…"

She came to where Derek was still sitting in front of the tree. As she grabbed a small box from under the tree she made sure that he saw her glaring at him. He got even more annoyed when she turned around and was all smiles for Rossi.

"Here you go," she said joyfully. "I hope you like it."

"I'm sure I will," he assured. "Merry Christmas you two."

"Merry Christmas," Derek replied.

And then the man turned to go.

The minute the door was shut, though, Emily turned the glare back on.

"Derek," she scolded. "What was that?"

"What?" he asked confused.

"You couldn't have been a little nicer?"

"I was being mean?"

She made a noise almost like she was growling. "You know exactly what I'm talking about Derek Morgan."

"Ooh, the full name treatment, now I know I've done something wrong," he teased, lightly.

"Derek," she warned, but he could tell she was trying hard not to smile.

"Ok, I'm sorry," he apologized. He pulled her down to him. "But is it so bad that I want you all to myself?"

He held her close placing a kiss on her neck.

"No, I guess not… but…"

She looked sad for a second and Morgan had to wonder if he had been to harsh minutes ago.

"But what?" he asked.

She let out a sigh and then smiled. "Nothing, never mind."

He could tell she wanted to change the subject but he wasn't quite ready yet.

"So what did he get you?"

She looked surprised by his question, but went ahead and started to tear at the paper.

"Wow," she breathed out, as she pulled the object from the box.

"What is it?" Derek wanted to know.

She held up a small crystal glass statue of a leopard.

"That's pretty, I guess," he commented dryly.

"Yeah it is," she said plainly, but it was the way she was staring at it in wonder that had Derek a bit uneasy. He had to wonder if the statue had a double meaning.

Looking at the beautiful statue, he decided that he hated it.

* * *

"Can I get you something to drink?"

Emily looked up, startled out of her trance by the flight attendant.

"Oh… uh no thanks," Emily answered.

The flight attendant nodded and looked past her to her seat mate. But Derek was fast asleep so she moved on.

Emily glanced at her boyfriend in wonder. How he could fall asleep on such a short flight was a mystery to her. Well, not so much, they hadn't been sleeping much the past couple of nights. After they got past Rossi's unexpected Christmas Day visit, that is.

She knew that Derek was curious as to why she was so surprised by Rossi's present. And she would tell the stubborn man if only he'd ask.

It really wasn't anything. She had been surprised because Rossi had remembered that a leopard was her favourite animal. She had told him one night more than five months ago when they had decided to get drinks together. They were playing "what's your favourite…" His favourite animal was a dog.

She suddenly realized that she didn't know Derek's favourite animal. And this bugged her. She had to know.

"Derek," she spoke urgently, touching his shoulder. "Derek?"

After a second, he came awake with a start. "Huh? What-"

"Derek, what's your favourite animal?"

"Emily?" he asked confused. "My favourite animal? It's uh… a duck."

"A duck," she repeated and he nodded. She suddenly felt better and giggled. "A duck, good."

"Hey, don't laugh," he protested.

"I'm not," she said, but giggled again.

He let out a sigh. "Whatever…" He gave her cheek a kiss and closed his eyes.

She continued to watch him; she didn't want to take her eyes off him. She loved him so much, it was only right she should know what his favourite animal was.

* * *

Emily and Derek walked out of the gate and into the main area of the airport only to be ambushed by a gaggle of females.

"Derek, you're home!" Mrs. Morgan exclaimed, pulling her son in for a hug.

"Hey little brother, welcome home," one of his sisters added.

"Finally," his other sister added.

Emily stood back, watching happily, enjoying the moment. She didn't have any experience with happy families. She was content to know that Derek did have one.

Derek finally extricated himself from the women's grasps and came to her side.

"Mom, guys, you remember Emily, right?" he introduced, putting his arm around her. "Emily, this is my mom, Desiree and Sarah."

"Of course we remember her," Mrs. Morgan said cheerfully. She took Emily's hands. "We're so glad you're here for better reasons."

"Me too," Emily assured. "Thanks for having me."

"Oh, you are welcome any time."

"You know," Desiree began mischievously. "We had a running bet when Derek would finally make his move and snatch you up."

"Desiree," he scolded.

"What? Mom was in on it too," Desiree defended.

Derek gave his mom an incredulous look while Emily just laughed.

"Mom gave you too much credit, though," Sarah added. "She thought you two would be together within the month after you were both here."

That was almost two years ago, Emily mused.

"But we know that you take forever to do anything," Desiree finished.

"So, which one of you brats won?" he asked dryly.

"That would be me," Sarah said joyfully. "But I'm not a brat, brat."

Emily could tell she was going to have a good time, already enjoying the few minutes with the Morgan family.

"That's enough you three," Mrs. Morgan spoke up. "We have a guest in our presence."

"Oh, don't worry about me. You go on teasing him, I'm too soft on him at home," Emily joked.

"Hey!"

She laughed. She leaned up to kiss his cheek. "You know I love you."

"Yeah I do," he answered, hugging her close.

"Aww…" they heard the three gush.

The couple pulled apart, blushing, but happy.

* * *

Well that's it for now. I couldn't remember if Derek is older than his sisters or younger, so I made him the baby of the family. I also couldn't remember if Kurt Vonnegut is a real author or not, though I think he might be. But I've implied that he has quite a few books already published. So, I hope you'll forgive me if I've made errors in these two areas.

Apart from that, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Officially, this is the longest chapter of any story I've ever written, so I'm quite proud of myself. There was just so much I wanted to get done in it before the next chapter, and I'm happy to say that I managed to get it done the way I wanted to.

Thanks to my two reviewers: **beth and star jelly**. And thanks to anyone else who's been reading and alerting this story.

I'll try to update soon!

See ya all!


	9. Dave

**A/N:** Hey all! Hope you enjoy this chapter! It's super long! Please R&R! Thanks!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Criminal Minds.

**Chapter 9: Dave:**

Emily dropped herself into her desk chair. "Man," she said dejectedly.

She was so not feeling work that day. It could have been because of the two weeks she'd just spent with Derek and his family in Chicago. She had had way too much fun.

The Morgan family had welcomed her into the fold right away. They continued to spend the next two weeks making her feel like she had always known them. Now she found that she missed them and, of course, Derek.

Derek had decided to stay a few extra days, but she couldn't because she had some lectures booked with the local university.

"Feeling the back to work blues?"

Emily looked up to see Rossi standing next to her desk.

"That and the 'I miss Derek and his family blues,'" she confided. "Got a cure for either?"

Rossi frowned. "Well I don't know anything about the Derek blues, but…" His face lit up. "I do have a possible cure for the work blues."

"Please, give me," she pleaded.

"It's a bit of gossip, actually," he said, surprising her.

"Good gossip, I hope," she said quizzically.

"I would say so," he assured her. "A certain boss and a certain media liaison have apparently gone out on their first date."

"No way!" she exclaimed. "When?"

"I think it happened yesterday," Rossi informed. "At least that's what Garcia told me."

Emily shook her head in disbelief. "I can't believe it, after all their protesting and saying that they aren't together, they go and get together behind our backs."

Rossi shrugged. "Guess so…"

Emily smiled to herself, she was so happy for the two. "I hope they're both happy."

"Oh, I think they are. At least Hotch is. I actually saw him smile today," Rossi told her.

"Amazing," she said. "Thanks Rossi, you've just made work a lot more interesting."

"No more blues?"

"Work blues," she corrected. "I still miss Derek, though."

"Well, I'm no Derek, but I could take you out to dinner tonight," he offered. "It's been awhile since we've had some time to talk."

She smiled. "You mean it's been awhile since I've talked your ear off."

He held his hands up. "Remember, I'm always here for that, in good times and bad. Come on, I'll distract you from missing Derek for at least an hour or two."

She considered his offer. Rossi was her friend and he did listen well and give great advice. Besides she could use some cheering up.

"Ok," she agreed.

"Good," he said happily. "I'll pick you up at 7?"

"Sure," she answered and then stood up. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a certain blonde friend to harass."

She left Rossi chuckling and went in search for JJ.

* * *

"And then he told me that he fell for me a long time ago," JJ gushed.

Emily listened intently to the sweet encounter between her two friends.

"That's got to be the most perfect first date I've ever heard of," Garcia said, happily.

Emily nodded in agreement.

"You guys don't think it's too soon do you?" JJ asked worriedly.

Emily patted her friend's hand in comfort. "No not at all, more like it's about time."

"Really?"

"Hun, you've got nothing to worry about. You and Hotch are meant to be," Garcia assured.

"I used to think that about me and Will," JJ confessed.

"Life can't be so cruel to take away the man you care about twice," Emily assured. "This is it, JJ."

JJ smiled giddily for a moment. Then she sobered up. "Guys, it was only one date."

"Trust me JJ, we know," Garcia reassured. "This is it."

"I… I hope so," JJ answered hesitantly. "What about you Emily?"

"Yeah, how was your stay with the Morgan's?" Garcia wanted to know.

"Perfect," Emily conveyed. "I felt like I belonged there. He has a great family. I miss them, I miss him."

"Aww… sweetie, he'll be back in a couple of days," Garcia said logically.

"I know…"

"But you still miss him," JJ finished. "Man you two are really hooked."

"Yep, we definitely are."

* * *

Derek poured himself and his mother two cups of coffee. He picked them up and carried them to the kitchen table.

"Thanks honey," Mrs. Morgan said gratefully, taking the steaming cup.

"Your welcome, mom," he replied. He pulled out a chair and took the seat, content to spend a quiet evening sitting with his mother.

"We really enjoyed having Emily here," Mrs. Morgan spoke up, taking a sip of coffee.

"I know Desiree and Sarah sure did, they had someone else to help with their teasing. You aren't going to punish them?"

"Derek, they're grown women," his mother responded dryly.

"They're still your children," he countered.

She gave him a warning look that he knew meant that enough was enough.

"All right, all right… well I know Em had a great time too. She misses you guys already," Derek informed.

Mrs. Morgan smiled affectionately. "We miss her too. She really is a sweet girl."

"Yes she is," Morgan said thoughtfully.

"You love her don't you?"

"_Mom_," he said embarrassedly.

"Oh come on honey, it's obvious," Mrs. Morgan announced, laughing.

Derek gave his mom a sheepish look. "Yeah, I do."

"And she definitely loves you, I can tell," she added.

Derek just nodded.

"So, what are you going to do about it?"

He gave her a confused look. "What do you mean?"

"I'm still waiting for my grandbabies," she said wryly.

"Aw mom… come on," Derek whined. "We've only been dating for about five months."

"I only dated your father for two months before he proposed," his mother reasoned.

"Mom, you knew dad since you were kids, it's different," he protested.

"Well, how long have you known Emily?" she asked, but didn't give him a chance to answer. "Besides it's not so different. We loved each other, just like you and Emily love each other. What's wrong with making it permanent?"

Derek didn't respond, considering his mom's words in silence.

She patted his hand and stood up. "Think about it sweetheart. Getting married is a natural thing."

Was he ready for marriage? Maybe. But he was sure of one thing, he loved Emily greatly.

* * *

Emily hurried to the door once she heard the doorbell ring. She knew who it was, Rossi, right on time. He was different from Derek that way; Derek was consistently late an average of ten minutes. She'd learned to work that fact into her getting ready time. And that was why she was still shoeless and her jewellery was in her hands.

She opened the door, ready to greet Rossi warmly; instead he got the first word out.

"Wow," he exclaimed.

She stared down at her outfit, a deep purple off the shoulder cocktail style dress and winced. "What, too much?" she asked.

Rossi shook his head. "Just… wow."

"Funny Dave… you're early, you know," she told him wryly.

"Really?" He looked down at his watch. "I thought we said seven?"

She nodded. "Yeah, but Derek's always like ten minutes late… so I've come to expect it, now."

Rossi frowned. "A little inconsiderate, isn't that?"

Emily shrugged. "I'm used to it now."

"Well…" Rossi started. "I'm not Derek, so…"

Emily didn't know why, but she felt that a change in subject was needed. "Can you help me with this necklace?" she asked quickly, holding out a long chain with a turquoise pendent.

He took the chain from her and said, "Certainly… uh turn around."

She did just that pulling her hair away from her neck. She felt Rossi's hand brush against her neck as he fixed the clasp; it sent a strange shiver down her spine.

"Cold?" he wondered out loud, as she turned around.

"Uh… a little," she said, a little flustered.

She wondered why it felt so awkward to be alone with him. They were really close once; before she started dating Derek, they would talk all the time. He had been there for her during one of the toughest times in her life when they investigated the death of her friend Matthew.

Rossi gave her a strange look and grabbed her coat off a nearby chair.

"Here," he said, and gentlemanly held it while she slipped into the coat.

"Thanks."

"Ready to go?"

"Yeah," she started, but then looked down at her feet. "Uh… shoes… I need shoes, and then I'm good to go."

She left the room quickly.

* * *

"Are you ok?"

Emily looked up from her plate of food, startled. "Huh?"

Rossi chuckled. "You seem kind of distracted, kind of down. I thought I was supposed to be cheering you up."

"Oh, Dave you are," she quickly tried to assure, but his raised eyebrow cut her off. "Ok, it's not you."

Rossi nodded. "You still miss Morgan…"

"No, it's not that! I mean, yes I miss him…" she trailed off, struggling.

"What is it Emily?" he asked gently.

"I just… I just…" she stuttered, then blurted, "Does this feel awkward to you?"

"Um… it didn't until now," he said truthfully.

"I'm sorry Dave," she apologized, she just felt weird.

"What's going on in that head of yours?"

"I guess I've just been thinking about how easy it used to be for us to talk, but lately… well, we haven't as much," she confessed.

"Things change… circumstances change," he said reasonably. "You probably do a lot of your talking with Derek now. Which is… understandable and ok."

She nodded. He was right; her go to person now for help solving her problems was Derek. Still why did it feel weird to be hanging out with Rossi.

"Still… you probably feel like its weird between us because you don't want to feel like you're betraying Derek."

She looked up suddenly. "Why would I feel like that? We aren't doing anything. We're just friends, that's all."

"I mean, because if you tell me something first, before you tell him," Rossi elaborated.

"Oh…"

"Emily you need to relax. Derek knows we're friends, I'm sure he wouldn't mind us talking," Rossi tried to reassure.

"Yeah… I guess," she said, not so confidently.

"Now, let's put a smile on that pretty face and try to enjoy the rest of our night, ok?" He reached out and patted her fidgeting hand.

She smiled at him affectionately. He really was a good friend; he just wanted her to be happy. Emily felt that David Rossi had her back.

"Ok."

* * *

"Thanks for tonight, Dave, I really had a good time," Emily commented as she stood in front of her closed apartment door.

It was true; after talking out the awkwardness she had initially felt, she had let herself go and they had talked like it was old times. It always felt good to have a long chat with him. He never held back and told her what he thought readily. And sometimes a person needed that.

"You're welcome Emily," Rossi replied. "I'm just happy that I could make you smile."

She smiled brightly at him; sometimes the guy could be really sweet. It surprised her every time. Not because she would forget that he was capable of sweetness, because she knew he was. No, it surprised her because he seemed to only show that side of himself around her. She was happy that he felt they were close enough that he could display himself openly.

Emily leaned in and placed a kiss on his cheek. It was meant to show how grateful she was to him to have him as a friend, nothing more. But, when she leaned back, the smile on his face was gone, replaced by an intense look. One look into his eyes and Emily could tell that the kiss was a mistake and a second later she was regretting the whole night.

Because that brief moment later Rossi was leaning closer and closer to her until his lips touched hers in a gentle kiss. Totally caught off guard, she was ashamed to admit that it took a moment extra to pull away from him.

"Dave!" Emily exclaimed.

"Emily," he answered calmly. She was super surprised and a bit outraged when he didn't offer an immediate apology or any form of explanation.

She turned around and fumbled with her keys as she struggled to open her door. She just wanted to get away. Except when she got the door open, she whirled back around mad.

"Wh… What was that?" she said tersely.

He shot her a wry look. "I think the answers obvious."

"Why would you—How could you—You ruined a perfectly good night," she managed to say, not to mention he may have ruined their friendship.

"I didn't think it was that bad," he joked. She was ready to rant again, but he stopped her. "What do you want me to say Emily? That I'm sorry, that it won't happen again?"

"Yes!" she said, totally incredulous.

He shrugged. "Well, I won't."

She gave a growl of frustration. She had no idea what Rossi was doing or what game he was playing, or _why_ it was suddenly being played. She stepped inside and started to shut the door. But Rossi's hand shot out to stop her.

"Are you crazy?" she practically shouted and then quieted down, not wanting to disturb her neighbours. "I have a boyfriend who I happen to love. He also happens to be your friend!"

"I know all this," he agreed and then let out a sigh as he stepped towards her. "But Emily, I also know that I care about you and—"

"Don't," she said, quickly taking a step back, holding up her hands in front of her. "Just don't do this Dave."

He nodded and seemed up for resignation. He turned around and Emily was relieved that he seemed ready to leave. But then he turned back around.

"Just one question before I go," Dave proposed.

"Dave," she began to protest.

"One question and then I'll go," he pleaded.

She nodded for him to continue.

"Do you have any feelings for me?" he questioned.

"Dave…" she trailed off, shaking her head. She'd be lying if she denied that at one point in her life she had had a crush on the famous profiler. She'd also be lying if she said she hadn't been excited when he joined the team. He was an attractive man, but… "I'm sorry Dave, but I love Derek."

He gave her a quick nod and then turned away. She watched him go, wondering how a good night could turn so horrible.

* * *

Morgan stepped out of the gate happy to be home. He would miss his family greatly, but in the few short days away from Emily he had missed her terribly. And all he wanted that second was to see Emily's glowing, smiling face. So, when he stepped out into the waiting area and saw Emily bent over, staring at her hands worriedly, he frowned. Something was wrong.

He approached her quickly, but she didn't seem to notice.

"Emily, are you ok? Is something wrong?" he asked quickly.

She looked up, startled. "Derek!" she exclaimed. She stood up and he had to brace himself as she threw her arms around him.

"Emily," he said in surprise.

"Derek, I'm so happy you're back," she murmured into his neck.

He dropped his bag and wrapped his arms around her tightly. "Me too. I missed you so much. But, Emily is something wrong? You're really starting to scare me."

She pulled back from him, smiling tentatively. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to. It's just I missed you so much."

He pulled her back into his embrace. "Well, I'm back now and I'm not going anywhere."

"Good," she said, giving his neck a kiss. "Please, don't go."

* * *

"We need to work victimology," Hotch said seriously. "If we know more about Samantha Everett's past we may find a connection between her and Kimberly Briere. And then maybe we can find Kimberly alive."

Emily frowned. "Kimberly's been gone for two days, she doesn't have much time."

They were working a case in Boston. A woman had been kidnapped two days earlier and the team and local PD had reason to believe she was still alive, because of the clues found at the scene that connected the case to one a month earlier. Samantha had been abducted and found dead three days later. It seemed that while held captive no harm came to her until her final moments. Which seemed to indicate to the team that the unsub knew the women and felt too much remorse and guilt to do more to the women than necessary.

"That's why we need to work fast," Hotch continued. "Reid, Morgan, I need you to talk to Samantha's parents and closest friends. We need a list every single person that Samantha may have known. Rossi, Prentiss, same thing with Kimberly's family. JJ and I will—"

"Are you sure I shouldn't go with Morgan?" Emily questioned. "I mean I've already spoken with Mr. and Mrs. Everett, they may feel more comfortable—"

"I need you with Rossi," Hotch denied.

Emily was quick to hold back a defeated sigh. She didn't want to go with Rossi; she didn't want to spend any time alone with him. It'd been about two weeks since Rossi had decided to turn her world upside down. And up until that moment she'd been relatively successful staying away from the man.

"Emily are you ok?"

She looked up to see that Derek had stepped in front of her and that everyone else had dispersed.

She smiled at him, she loved him so much. But she felt so guilty; she had not told him what had happened and it was taking its toll on her. "I'm ok."

"Are you sure?" he asked urgently.

"Yeah, yeah," she said quickly, she saw Rossi standing nearby. "Look, I've got to go, but we'll talk later, ok?"

At that moment she knew what she had to do, she needed to tell Derek what happened. It was the right thing to do.

* * *

"So, now we need to figure out who Kimberly and Samantha knew when they went to Kennedy High School," Emily spoke more to herself.

They had talked to the Everett's again and found a connection between the two victims. Samantha had briefly gone to JFK high school, the same one Kimberly had attended, before moving to a different high school. So, now they had to figure out who they both had in common.

"Yeah, well we've got Garcia on the case, she'll find something and we'll get this guy," Rossi assured.

She nodded. "Hopefully in time."

They both stepped into the parked SUV, shutting the doors behind them. There was a palpable silence and Emily waited for Rossi to turn on the car. He didn't.

"Emily is everything ok?" he asked.

She gave a very unfeminine snort in disbelief. "Do you care?"

He let out a sigh. "I didn't do what I did or tell you what I did because I don't."

She continued to sit in silence.

"You didn't tell Derek," he stated more than asked.

"Not yet," she confessed.

"So you are?" he said surprised.

"Of course I am," she replied. "I owe him that."

"But why? If it meant nothing to you than why risk telling Derek," Rossi scoffed. "Unless you're feeling guilty… maybe you did feel something and you think telling him will ease your conscience."

"Don't flatter yourself," Emily responded. "I need to tell him because as we get closer I don't want any secrets between us. Besides, it's not my fault you can't control where your lips fall. I'm sure Derek will forgive me."

"Well, I'd believe that if you didn't kiss me back," Ross added.

She stared at him in shock. The kiss lasted less than ten seconds; how he got that idea she didn't know.

"I knew you could be tough. I knew you could be harsh, but I didn't know you could be an outright jerk," she said sadly.

That seemed to silence him. Rossi turned on the car and they started to drive away. Half way through the drive Rossi spoke up.

"I'm sorry Emily."

* * *

Derek poured himself a cup of coffee, eager for a caffeine burst. They had arrived back from Boston a few hours ago and now he was stuck at the BAU writing up a report. When all he wanted to do was go home and snuggle close to Emily. She had wisely started her report on the ride back and was pretty much finished within an hour of arriving at the BAU. She was at his place waiting for him.

The case had finished with a happy ending. Kimberly Briere went home with nothing but the shock of the whole ordeal. Her kidnapper and Samantha's killer turned out to be a brother of Kimberly's close friend. He had been the one to show Samantha around on her first week at JFK. But they had gotten to Kimberly in time.

He stirred some sugar and cream and took a sip of his coffee. Ready to get back to work, he turned around to leave the break room and came face to face with Rossi.

"Hey man," Morgan greeted civilly. "Finished your report?"

"Not yet, just needed a cup of coffee to refuel, like you," Rossi replied.

"Well, there's plenty left, enjoy," Morgan finished, stepping around the man.

"You know," Rossi continued, stopping him in his tracks. "That's one thing I didn't miss when I came back to the BAU."

Morgan turned around. "What?"

"The reports. It sucks," Rossi added.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Morgan agreed.

"But, I am glad I came back," Rossi continued. "I got to meet Emily, she's a great woman."

If Derek was a cat you could say his hackles were rising at that moment. He proceeded with caution.

"She is, she's the best," Derek added.

Rossi nodded his agreement. It seemed like he was done so he turned to go once again.

"I like her Derek," Rossi spoke up.

Derek turned around tentatively, wondering if Rossi was finally admitting what he suspected all along.

"Again, she's a great woman, everyone likes Emily," Morgan fished.

"I think you know what I mean," he said dryly. "I care about her."

Derek nodded. "I do. Question is what are we going to do about it?"

"I'd like to give you the heads up," Rossi started. "I don't want to back down."

"Are you crazy man?" Derek said in surprise. "She loves me, that's not going to change."

"Maybe, maybe not."

"She isn't interested," he said more adamantly.

"Well… that I'm not so sure about," Rossi stated and started to leave.

He couldn't believe he was taking the bait, but…

"What are you talking about?"

"Ask Emily about a certain get together we had while you were in Chicago," Rossi offered and then was gone.

He left Derek feeling unsure and angry about it.

* * *

Emily sat on Derek's couch, waiting anxiously for Derek to return. She had decided to tell Derek about the Rossi incident, even if Rossi had put some doubts in her head as to how he'd react.

She just prayed to God that Derek wouldn't be too angry with her. It's not like she had asked to be kissed. But she had gone out with Dave willingly. So she could see the issue from both sides.

Emily almost jumped out of her own skin when she heard the front door rattling. He was home.

"Emily," he called from the door.

"In here," she called back.

A moment later Derek entered the living room. She was ready to greet him happily when she saw the frown on his face.

"Derek, what's wrong?" she asked quickly.

He continued to frown as he took off his jacket and dropped it on a chair. She matched his frown when he didn't come to sit next to her, but took the chair instead.

"Derek?"

"I talked to Rossi tonight," he spoke quietly.

Emily's mouth dropped open, as warning bells went off in her head.

"Derek I need to—"

He cut her off. "He told me to ask you about some get together you two had while I was gone. Emily, what is he talking about?"

She wanted to just blurt it out and get it over with, but the look Derek was giving her was a scary one. He was furious and she suddenly realized that their relationship might be on the line.

"Uh…" she started tentatively. "I went out to dinner with him."

Derek's frown deepened, but the fury in his eyes lessened. "Is that all?"

"Yes," she said quickly, nodding. "No," she finished instead.

"Emily, which is it?" he asked incredulously.

"I was missing you while you were gone… and he offered to take me out to dinner to cheer me up. I thought it was just a friendly dinner, but…" she started to explain quickly, but trailed off at the tough part.

"I'm not liking what I'm hearing. But, what?"

"He dropped me off at home and decided to… kiss me," she said hesitantly.

"Son of a…" Derek swore under his breath. He stood up quickly. "I'm going to beat the crap out of him."

Emily stood up following him as he made his way to the door. "Derek, no. It lasted for less than ten seconds and I pushed him away."

"Ten seconds?" Derek said, hurt.

"Derek," she said exasperated. "All I'm saying is he tried to kiss me, I pushed him away, and I let him know that I'm not interested."

"You're not interested?" Derek said in a daze.

"Of course not!" she exclaimed. "The only person I'm interested in is you. I love you! Now come on, come sit down."

She pulled on his arm, taking him back into the living room. He sat down on the couch next to her in silence. She stared at him; he seemed so lost in thought and it made her mad at herself. She so wished she had told him right away.

"Why… why didn't you tell me sooner?" he asked quietly, echoing her thoughts.

"Derek…" she trailed off. He looked at her, his eyes staring at her accusingly.

"Come on Em, why didn't you tell me right away?"

"I… I didn't think it was a huge deal. I thought it was done," Emily explained.

"Not a huge deal? Done?" Derek replied incredulously. "Obviously not. The guy told me as much tonight. He's interested and he seems to think you are too."

"Well I'm not! Dave can think whatever he likes, it won't change the fact that I only love you," she replied adamantly.

Derek shook his head, scaring Emily. It seemed as if he didn't believe her. "I… I need some time to think… alone."

She watched helplessly as he stood up and walked down the hall. A second later she heard the door to his bedroom shut.

Emily fought the tears that wanted to fall as she wondered if she had completely ruined the best thing in her life.

* * *

Well, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. And hopefully, I haven't turned you guys off of Rossi. He really isn't a bad guy in my story. And when you read my third companion story you'll see his point of view.

Anyways, just wanted to say thanks to my two reviewers: **Beth and star jelly.**

Also thanks to anyone else who is reading and those who have alerted this story.

I'll try to update soon! See ya!


	10. Sad Eyes and Sighs

**A/N:** Hey all! Sorry for the long wait. I really wanted to get this out sooner, but life got in the way. Anyways, here it is. You'll find there is some major overlap with For You, Always in this one. I hope you enjoy! Please R&R!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Criminal Minds.

**Chapter 10: Sad Eyes and Sighs:**

Emily hung up her phone with a heavy sigh.

"Something wrong?"

Emily looked out from her kitchen to the living room where Morgan was sitting on the couch watching a football game.

She came around and sat down next to him. He automatically put his arm around her bringing her closer.

"That was my mom," Emily said dejectedly. "She's in town."

"Ooh," Derek groaned, he knew how conflicted she was on the subject of her mom. He pulled away from her to turn off the TV, and then faced her. "So, what's up?"

"She wants to have dinner tonight," Emily informed.

"One dinner couldn't hurt too much," Derek replied, shrugging.

She gave him a look that said, 'Wanna bet?'

"So are you going to go?" Derek asked.

She leaned back into him, ready to give him her request, a little apprehensive. Things had been strained between them the past month. She blamed it all on the Rossi situation. But she hoped she could count on him.

"Well… I was hoping I wouldn't have to do it alone," she confessed. "Would you like to officially meet my mother?"

Emily saw the hesitation in his eyes even before he voiced it. "I don't know Emily…"

"How come? It's not like it's too soon to meet each others parents. I met your family already and I loved them. Granted, I'm not even sure you'll like my mom, but she's still my mother," Emily added.

"I just—I'm not sure it's a good idea right now," he finished.

She understood; he'd been acting like this for awhile. It's like he was pulling back from their relationship, like he was holding back. He didn't want to get any more attached. She didn't know what else to do. She loved him, but…

Tears were quickly forming at the corners of her eyes. She stood up abruptly, turning away so that he couldn't see how this affected her.

"I… I understand," she let it go. "I can go by myself. No big deal."

She walked over to the kitchen island and put her hands against it to lean on. How could things get so bad when just at Christmas time they were so good?

Suddenly, Derek's arms were around her hugging her from behind. He sighed in her ear. "I'm sorry Emily. Of course I would love to meet your mother."

And then sometimes he was like his old self again.

She turned in his arms, acutely aware that her eyes were sparkling. "Really?"

"Yeah, I would love to meet the famous Elizabeth Prentiss," he reassured. He looked at her smiling tenderly. But she could see a hint of sadness in his eyes. "I love you, Emily."

"I love you too."

He kissed her deeply and it wasn't her imagination, the kiss felt a little too desperate for her comfort. Desperate to hold on.

* * *

"Isn't it great that Emily joined the BAU?" Elizabeth Prentiss commented.

Emily looked up from her plate of food. She'd been on guard since the minute she and Morgan had arrived. So far the conversation had stuck to a safe topic, one of her mom's favourite, herself.

"We're lucky to have her," Derek replied.

Emily turned to look at her boyfriend and they shared a smile.

"Still, it's all she ever wanted when she was a teenager. She couldn't stop talking about it," Elizabeth went on.

For some reason Emily's senses were on alert. "Mom—" she tried to interrupt.

"Well that and marrying David Rossi," Elizabeth finished.

There was a choking sound then and they all looked to see Derek reaching for his water. He took a sip which seemed to help.

"Dave?" Derek asked curiously.

_Oh, this was not good,_ Emily thought disastrously.

"Oh yes, I forgot he rejoined the team," Elizabeth said smoothly.

Emily sent her mother a look that said, 'yeah right you did.' Her mother ignored it, though, and continued. "Isn't that ironic dear that all you ever wanted was to work with David Rossi and now you are? Wouldn't it be amazing if you two—"

"Mom!" Emily finally protested at the same time Derek stood up.

"Um, excuse me, but which way to the washroom?" he asked calmly, though Emily could tell he wasn't calm at all.

Elizabeth looked surprised at his abrupt request. "Down the hall, second door on the right."

Emily watched, horrified, as Derek nodded solemnly and walked away. She wondered just how much damage this had done to their relationship. She turned back around ready to give her mother more than just a piece of her mind. She was ready to disown her all together.

"Well that was a bit rude, don't you think?" her mother commented snobbishly, furthering Emily's anger.

"Mom, Derek is my boyfriend!" she exclaimed.

"I don't have amnesia, dear, you already told me that," Elizabeth said dryly.

"He doesn't want to sit around and listen to his girlfriend's mother try to match-make him with another guy. Especially, a guy who he works with and considered a friend," Emily said sternly.

"Well, let's just talk about David Rossi for a second, he's single isn't he?"

Emily instantly thought back to JJ's Christmas dinner. He hadn't brought anyone even though he could have and everyone else did. Still, there was that Ariel woman…

"No, yes, I don't know," Emily replied in frustration. "And I don't care. It's none of my business."

"But it could be your business," Elizabeth urged on. "Just hear me out."

* * *

Derek couldn't believe Emily's mother. She was even worse than he had expected. First, she talked non-stop about herself, barely even asking how Emily was doing all this time. And then she starts the Rossi talk, trying to set the two up right in front of him. Elizabeth Prentiss was a piece of work.

He splashed some water on his face, letting the cool water cool his anger. So what if Emily had a huge crush on Rossi when she was teenager. That was a long time ago. It definitely didn't mean anything now.

It wasn't news to him that Emily admired the older profiler, he knew as much when Rossi joined. But he also knew that it was the man's profiling skills she admired most.

With that thought he felt much better and exited the washroom heading back down the hall. He didn't get far when he heard Emily's heated voice.

"No, yes. I don't know. And I don't care. It's none of my business."

This didn't sound good, he wondered if he should interrupt the conversation. But he stayed put, curious as to the subject of the conversation.

"But it could be your business. Just hear me out," Elizabeth replied.

"Mom, if it's more of the absurd I don't really want to hear it," Emily said crossly.

But Elizabeth went on. "Would it be so bad to have a relationship with David? He's a smart man, very good at what he does. It would be a very high profile match, the ambassador's daughter with the countries top profiler."

_Countries top profiler? Where did she hear that garbage?_ Derek thought in annoyance. _They were a team._

"Mom, you are crazy and all you care about is good publicity," Emily scoffed. "Always the politician. I think its time to go."

Derek heard the scraping of a chair and then footsteps. She was going to search for him.

_Uh oh._

"Are you telling me that he doesn't like you? That the man isn't attracted to you? Maybe he has feelings for you and you don't even know," Elizabeth stopped Emily in her tracks.

"Mom!" Emily exclaimed in exasperation. "I love Derek, not Dave. Derek ok! He's my boyfriend; he's the one I love. And besides Rossi doesn't want me."

"_He_ doesn't want you? Not _you_ don't want him?" Elizabeth latched on to the words.

"What?"

"You said, '_Rossi _doesn't want me,' instead of you don't want him. Maybe subconsciously you're hoping he does want you. And you still have feelings for him."

There was a pause, an uncomfortable one for Derek. "Mom this is ridiculous. We're going. Derek," she called.

He quickly stepped into the kitchen to see Emily's surprised face. She hadn't known he was so close. And now she realized that he had heard everything.

* * *

Emily shut the door behind them as they entered Derek's apartment.

"Can we talk about this?" Emily pleaded.

Derek turned around to face her. He shrugged. "What's there to talk about?"

Emily practically growled in frustration. She'd been trying to get him to talk since they'd left her mother's. "My mom's insanity for one, us for another."

"Emily, I know your mom isn't very nice," he said, sighing. "Let's drop it ok."

He turned, walking away from her, starting to undo his tie. Emily wasn't done, though. "Derek, we're not done, don't walk away from me, please."

Emily heard him let out a sigh as he faced her once again. And once again she was struck by the sad look in his eyes.

"Look, I'm tired Emily, I'm tired and I just want to go to sleep," Derek told her. "I get it, you love me, you don't love Rossi, end of story."

She was shocked by how unconvincing he sounded. She put her hands up in a plaintive gesture and then dropped them at her side.

"I'm… I'm going to go," she gave up. "I'll… um call you later."

She started for the door.

"Emily, don't go," he called after her.

She turned as she walked, shaking her head at him, and then reaching the door, she opened it and left.

* * *

"Thanks Reid," Emily said, smiling brightly at the younger agent. "The magic trick really cheered me up."

Reid smiled back at her and then frowned. "Emily," he began tentatively. "Is everything ok? You seem… sad lately."

Emily let out a sigh. She figured she couldn't hide it from the genius of the bunch. "Things have been… weird."

"Between you and Derek?" he asked perceptively.

She was about to answer when they were joined by another member.

"Did I just hear my name?" Derek asked.

Reid looked from her to Derek before improvising. "Uh yeah… I was just asking Emily if you two ever uh… wanted to double date with Layla and me."

Emily silently thanked him for the change of subject as she watched Derek raise an eyebrow at the younger agent.

"We'll think about it," Derek answered. "So, you and Layla have reached the double date stage. Must be serious, congratulations."

Reid blushed brightly. He was about to reply when they were interrupted once again.

"Who has plans this weekend?" JJ announced cheerfully.

They all looked up at the happy blonde and Emily was slightly jealous of her friend's glee.

Emily didn't, but when she saw the other two putting up their hands, especially her boyfriend, she went along with it.

"Well, cancel them," JJ told them excitedly. "Because you're all helping with the moving!"

Emily looked up startled.

"Moving, what moving?" Derek questioned.

But Emily could guess as to where her friend was moving. And she was envious of how quickly JJ and Hotch's relationship was going.

"Where're you going JJ?" Reid asked.

JJ laughed. "Not going anywhere. But Aaron's moving in with me and we need some help."

JJ was so happy and Emily realized that she was being a bad friend. After everything JJ'd gone through, she deserved some true happiness.

"Congratulations JJ," Emily exclaimed.

Emily watched as Hotch walked into the bull pen; she replied to his good morning. And Emily stared openly when the man kissed JJ on the cheek. He was quick to inform everyone to meet in the conference room in five minutes and then he was gone.

"Different," Derek commented. "Yet, so the same."

* * *

"Aww JJ," Garcia pouted. "Do you really want to pack this away?"

Emily smiled as Garcia held up a very happy looking butterfly plush toy to their friend The three were in the process of packing away JJ's very girly guestroom.

"Yes," JJ said pointedly. "This is going to be Jack's room, remember, do you really want to scar him for life?"

The room was going to be Jack's when he came to visit Hotch on the weekend. The end result was going to be a surprise to both Hotch and Jack. JJ was very excited to get the change going. Her enthusiasm was contagious, despite the fact that Emily was feeling down over the past month.

"There's nothing wrong with letting your child play with both masculine and feminine toys. It's supposed to build better character," Garcia countered.

"You tell that to Hotch," JJ replied.

"Uh…" Garcia quickly backtracked. "Thanks, but no thanks."

Emily smiled as she watched Garcia shudder at the prospect, throwing the toy back into a box.

She was still amazed at how quickly JJ's new relationship was going. She supposed that they had known each other for awhile. Still, she and Derek had known each other for a long time too.

"Wow," Emily blurted out uncontrollably.

"What's wrong Emily?" JJ questioned.

Emily shook her head, realizing a second too late that she'd spoke out loud. "Nothing, it's just… you and Hotch must be pretty serious. You know, letting him have a room in your house for his son and all."

"I don't look at it like that. It's our house now. And I love Jack as much as if he were my own son. I wouldn't have it any other way," JJ replied. "So yeah… I guess we're pretty serious."

Now she'd done it, her friends were looking at her with sad, concerned eyes. But she wanted to understand JJ and Hotch's relationship to see where she and Derek were going wrong.

"After two months?" she asked.

"Yeah, but they've known each other for like five years," Garcia offered, exactly what she was thinking earlier.

Emily nodded.

"Emily is something up with you and Derek?" JJ asked concernedly.

She let out a sigh. "I don't know," she answered honestly. "We were getting so close. You know, around Christmas time I thought things could only get better. But lately, it's like he's pushing me away."

"Do you care about him?" JJ wondered.

"So much," Emily admitted wholeheartedly, her cheeks pinking.

"Have you tried talking to him?" Garcia wanted to know.

"A little…" she answered. "But he just changes the subject and I guess I give up."

JJ shook her head at her. "You've got to try harder. And if he doesn't tell you what's wrong, let him know that you care about him but that he's hurting you. That should give him a good kick in the pants."

Emily nodded. "Yeah… I just don't know what happened to change his attitude."

_Ok, that was a lie._ She knew what happened to change his attitude but what she didn't know was what happened to change his faith in her.

Garcia put her arm around her shoulders. "Aww… hun, don't worry. If I know my chocolate Adonis, than I know that he really does care about you. And I really do know my Adonis."

Emily smiled. "I'm not really sure how I feel about you calling my boyfriend a chocolate Adonis."

Her friends laughed and she felt slightly better.

* * *

Derek taped up another box as he asked his boss and friend, "So are you moving all this stuff to JJ's?"

He and the guys were over at Hotch's packing up his things. Working with Reid and Hotch was pleasant, but Rossi was another story. It took all his will power not to punch the guy's lights out. For Hotch's sake he resisted.

"Only a few things. The rest is going to either Hailey's or storage, until I can either sell it or use it."

"Isn't it going to be weird living in her house without your stuff?" Derek asked, new to the concept of living with someone; he was curious.

"I don't care about my things; I just want to be closer to JJ and Henry. Besides, maybe someday soon we'll move into a bigger house and I'll get my two cents in."

"Already thinking ahead, I see," Rossi said happily.

Derek cringed at his voice.

Hotch just shrugged. "We care about each other. I don't see any reason why we won't be together in the future. And I'd like to give the family thing another shot."

It amazed Derek that Hotch was so eager to jump into such a serious relationship after his last one ended in disaster. Wasn't the man afraid of getting hurt again?

"That's great, Hotch!" Reid congratulated.

But Derek couldn't share his best friend's enthusiasm. "That's a bit fast, isn't it? You've only been dating two months."

"Weren't you the one telling us about their 'goofiness' around each other when they first met?" Rossi scoffed. "Sounded to me like this was a long time coming."

Derek was going to reply in a not so friendly tone. But Hotch cut him off first.

"It definitely was. But who knows about timing. Look at you and Emily, Derek, you knew her for what almost two years before anything happened between you. Even though we all clearly saw that you two belong together."

"Yeah, me and Emily," Derek managed to say. "We're a different story."

Derek could see that both Hotch and Reid wanted more information but this time Rossi cut them off, changing the subject.

"So, Reid, how's Layla doing lately?"

* * *

Derek was on his way out of Hotch's place when he was stopped.

"Hey Morgan, wait up," Reid called, running up behind him.

Derek turned around to see his friend catch up. "What's up Reid?"

"I'm worried," Reid said bluntly.

Derek gave him a quizzical look. "About what?"

"You and Emily. What's going on Derek?" Reid asked concernedly.

Derek shook his head and walked up to his car door. "Reid, I don't think that's any of your business."

"Maybe not," Reid agreed. "But you're both my friends. And I just want to make sure your both ok. Does this have anything to do with Rossi?"

"Rossi?" Derek asked quizzically.

"I'm not stupid Derek; I see how you look at him; like you want to rip his head off. What happened? Did Emily—"

"No!" Derek quickly denied. "Emily didn't do anything. It's all that bastards fault."

Reid nodded. "So why are you punishing Emily?"

"I'm not," Derek replied, getting a look from Reid. "Ok, she won't stop being friends with him."

Reid gave him a sympathetic look. "Derek, I don't know what happened between them, but it's going to be hard for them to just cut all ties. We all work together closely."

"I know," Derek gave in.

"You're going to have to find a way to deal with it," Reid said rationally. "Or else…"

"Or else?" Derek asked.

"Or else, your going to lose her," Reid finished.

Derek stood there, stunned, as Reid turned back to Hotch's place.

He had no idea what to do.

* * *

Emily opened her door slowly, tired after a long days work. All she wanted to do was sleep and not think about anything at all.

She was super surprised when she opened her door and found she wasn't alone.

"Derek?" she said in surprise.

He was sitting on her couch, back towards her. She instantly had a bad feeling. Things between them weren't getting any better.

He turned to face her and she knew why she'd had the feeling. Derek had a bottle of wine in one hand. And from what she could see it was half empty.

"Emily!" he greeted, happily. "You're home!"

He stood up and approached her haphazardly. The contents of the bottle sloshing, dangerously. Standing in front of her, he held the bottle out to her. "Want some?"

She took the bottle from him and walked to the kitchen putting it down heavily.

"Derek, what the hell?" she said angrily.

"What?" he replied, walking tipsily back to the living room. "I was thirsty."

Emily shook her head in disbelief. "You were thirsty?"

He didn't answer; she looked towards him and saw why. He had flopped down on her couch belly first. Thinking he had passed out she rushed to his side. She found him wide awake, counting the squares on the rug on the floor.

"Two… three… five…"

"Derek?"

"Huh? Six…. Seven…"

Something was definitely wrong. She'd seen Derek drink before, but not to the point where he was out of his mind drunk.

"Derek, what's wrong?" she asked concernedly.

He looked up at her and she could see the pain in his eyes. Her heart broke, because somehow she knew it was because of her.

He sat up and asked her, "Do you love me?"

Her eyes softened, she took his hands in hers. "Of course I love you. Don't you know that Derek? I love you so much."

He shocked her when he shook his head. "No… no," he said slowly.

"Derek—" she began.

"Do you love Rossi?" he suddenly questioned.

She pulled back, literally taken aback by his question. "No, Derek. I don't. I love you."

"He loves you, you know," he blurted out. "He wants you."

"Derek I don't know what else to say. I don't care what Dave wants. I don't care how he feels," Emily pleaded; she leaned forward taking his face into both her hands. "I only care how I feel, how you feel. And I love you. Now, how do you feel?"

"I love you Emily," he said with sadness.

She nodded and she hoped with that admission that they were done, that they were good.

"Emily, are you attracted to him?" Derek asked with such calmness that she had to wonder if he was sobering up.

She dropped her hands from his face. She'd hoped that this question wouldn't come up, because she knew she had to tell the truth.

"It's like my mom said," she started slowly. "I once wanted to marry him."

Derek nodded his head and then stood up.

"Derek?" she questioned. He started towards the door. "Where are you going?"

"Out," was all he said. "I've just… got to go."

She saw that his keys were on the table. He wasn't driving, that was one good thing.

"Stay Derek, don't go," she pleaded. "I… I don't want you to go."

He shook his head. "I can't."

"Well, at least let me drive you home," she tried.

"I don't want anything from you right now," he said harshly.

"Oh," Emily said, hurt.

"Look," Derek began more gently. "I've just got to go."

And then with that he was gone without even a goodbye.

* * *

It'd been four hours since Derek had left Emily's apartment. And almost immediately after he'd left she'd began to bombard his cell phone and home phone with calls, but no answer. She'd even thought that he might have been screening her calls, so she'd went next door and borrowed her neighbours phone, but still nothing.

She was worried. He had been drunk and angry when he'd left, not a good combination. She hoped he was ok. She was seriously considering calling the police to help her search for him.

In fact, that was exactly what she'd do. She picked up the phone, ready to dial when it started to ring. Thinking it was Derek, she hurriedly answered.

"Hello?" Emily answered.

"Hey Emily," came JJ's voice. "This is JJ. Are you ok?"

Emily wanted to let out a frustrated sigh. She had so hoped that it was Derek. "I'm fine," Emily replied uncertainly.

"Umm…" JJ started tentatively. "Emily, Derek is here and—"

_Oh man,_ she thought as she quickly cut her off. "He's there? Oh thank God! He left here and I didn't know where he went. I'll be over in ten."

Emily hung up the phone and started to fling on her jacket, shoes and grabbed her purse and keys. She hoped he was ok. She was glad he was safe, but she was so mad at him for making her worry. And now for taking their problems to their bosses house. Oh, she hoped Hotch wasn't home.

* * *

Emily rang the doorbell impatiently. She had to see Derek; she had to make sure he was all right.

She was going to hug him tight after she gave him a piece of her mind.

JJ opened the door. "Emily, come in."

She tried to smile, but failed miserably. "Thanks JJ; I'm so sorry about this."

Her friend gave her a sympathetic look. "Don't worry about it Em. Come on, he's in the living room."

Emily followed her friend quickly into the living room. She instantly blushed at the sight of Hotch in there, too.

"Hotch, I am so sorry about this," she quickly apologized.

He wore the same sympathetic look as JJ's. "Don't worry about it, Emily." She watched as he stood up and took JJ's hand in his. "We can leave you two alone."

"Thanks guys."

She watched with envy as the couple left the room looking so together, something that she wasn't sure she and Derek ever had. She shook her head out of her trance and turned to look at her boyfriend, passed out on the couch.

She walked around the couch and sat down on the coffee table next to him. She took a minute to watch him; he looked so peaceful like nothing was wrong. She reached out and touched his cheek tenderly. And then Emily spoke up.

"Derek, wake up," Emily said. "Derek."

He stirred and then opened his eyes. "Emily?" He rubbed at his eyes. "Where am I?"

"We're at JJ and Hotch's house," Emily explained.

"Wha—" he mumbled, he tried to get up but lay back down with a groan. "Man, my head. Why are we at JJ's?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, you tell me?"

He looked as if he were thinking hard. "Emily—"

But she cut him off. "Wait Derek. I'm not sure what else I can say to convince you that I love you and only you."

"Emily, I know," Derek spoke up. "I know."

"I don't think you do know Derek," Emily denied. "Do you know how hard it was for me to let myself fall for you? I was afraid. I was scared. I've been hurt so many times. I didn't want that to happen again. But then I thought: you're Derek Morgan, the kindest, sweetest man I've ever met. He would never hurt me. But guess what."

"I'm hurting you," Derek said solemnly.

She nodded. "Derek, I love you. Can't you see that? What will it take for you to believe me?"

"No Emily, I know. I'm sorry," Derek backtracked.

But she wasn't finished. "I'll quit," she blurted out. "I'll leave the BAU if that will help.

"I don't want that Emily," Derek denied.

She stood up. "Hotch is right though that hall, I'll go tell him, right now," she threatened.

He took her hands and pulled her down. "No, don't."

"Believe me, please, believe me," she pleaded.

He reached up and wiped a tear off her face. "I do Emily. I do, I'm so sorry."

"Because I love you, I love you so much it hurts," Emily cried.

He pulled her into his arms and she let out all her stress through her tears.

* * *

Derek finished his shower with a sigh. He wished he could say it was a content sigh, but it wasn't. Ever since leaving JJ and Hotch's place his mind had been racing with thoughts of what he did.

First, he'd gotten drunk. Then, he'd worried Emily by walking out on her. And finally, he'd embarrassed them by airing out their problems at their friend's house. And to top it all off he'd questioned her love for him.

Once again, he found himself thinking what a huge idiot he was. _What was his problem?_ He knew she loved him. So what, she'd had a crush on David Rossi. So what if the guy was in love with her. What mattered was the here and now and only how he and Emily felt.

He wrapped a towel around his hips and entered his bedroom.

"How are you feeling?" Emily asked immediately.

She was sitting on his bed, waiting for him. She'd driven him home and would not leave his side, which he was grateful for. She did love him.

And suddenly he realized that he didn't deserve her, not a single bit. She deserved so much better.

"What's wrong?" she asked, he could tell by the tremor in her voice that she was scared.

"I'm ok," he said simply; he grabbed some clothes and put them on.

"I… I can tell you have something to say," she said quietly.

He came to sit in front of her. She was staring down into her lap. He reached out a hand to her chin forcing her to look him in the eyes.

"I am so sorry Emily." She opened her mouth to speak. He put his finger to her lips. "Wait please. I've hurt you so bad lately and I don't know what the hell I'm doing anymore. Especially today, I don't know what came over me." He let out a sigh. "Emily you deserve so much better than me. I don't know what's wrong with me. I love you so much and I want to trust you, but I think… I think I first need to take a step back and work out my issues first."

"What… what are you saying?" Emily asked tears in her eyes.

"I need to work out my issues without hurting you even more. I think we need to take a break," Derek suggested.

"What?"

"And maybe if I do figure all this out… if I'm lucky enough, maybe you'll take me back," he added hesitantly.

She was silent at this, but he could hear her breathing accelerating.

"How dare you?" she said angrily. "After all… all this, I want to work all this out together, not apart. I've been fighting for us and you're giving up!"

"No—" he started.

"And now you want me to wait for you, while you figure it all out," Emily yelled. She pushed him and stood up. "I'm sorry Derek! I don't know if I can do this. I've got to go."

He put his head in his hands as he watched her storm out.

_Could he do anything right?_

* * *

Well that's it. A long, long chapter of angst, hope I didn't depress anyone. Trust me, it will get better. Not sure if it will by next chapter, but it will, eventually. I promise.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter nevertheless. I just wanted to thank those who alerted this story and those who reviewed: **Confetti Leaves **_(totally not my intention, but I think that was the overall result. Hopefully, his own story will make people hate him less. Thanks for the review!)_; **mishma; ArwenLalaith** _(hope this chapter was less whiplash-y, thanks for the review!);_ and **star jelly**.

I'll try to update soon!

See ya!


	11. Plain and Simple

**A/N:** Hello all! I got some great response to the last chapter! Thanks for that! I decided to update a little sooner than usual. So, I hope you enjoy this next chapter. I'll warn you all now, you'll probably hate the beginning of this chapter. But, you'll all really like the end of the chapter (I think, I hope). Anyways, please R&R! Thanks!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Criminal Minds.

**Chapter 11: Plain and Simple:**

Emily drew her coat closer around her body. It was extra chilly for a February in Washington D.C. She was out that night walking the streets of downtown D.C. after leaving a trendy restaurant.

An arm came to rest around her shoulders. She looked to her right at the owner of that arm.

"Cold?" Rossi asked.

She smiled. "A little."

He pulled her a little closer to him and her smile faded away for a second, but she was quick to put it back on.

Nevertheless, the perceptive profiler caught the flicker. "Something wrong?"

She gave him a quick look and then stared straight ahead. "Nope, why would there be anything wrong? I've had a great time tonight."

"Good," he replied. "Me too."

She'd been dating David Rossi for the past three weeks. Well dating would be a strong word, since they'd only officially gone out a handful of times. But she was pretty sure that if you asked Rossi what they were doing he'd definitely say dating. If you asked her, though, she'd say that she had no idea.

She still remembered the night where this- whatever it was with Rossi- all started. It also happened to be the night Derek had broken up with her. She remembered every detail, and there wasn't a night she didn't play it back in her head.

_After storming out of Derek's apartment she drove home quickly, probably dangerously, through teary eyes. She couldn't believe what happened that night._

_Emily had worked so hard to tell him she loved him, to keep them together. And the end result was that she failed._

_Quickly, keeping her head down—she didn't want nosy neighbours knowing her business—she made her way to her apartment. She stripped off her jacket and shoes and made her way to the couch. Sitting down she brought her knees to her chest and rested her chin on top of her knees. The tears dripped silently down her face, off her chin, to soak her jeans._

_Somehow, someway, she needed to find a way to make this better. She loved him way too much to let him go so easily._

_She had told him she didn't know if she could wait for him. But that was a lie out of her anger at him. She would wait for him. She would._

_The doorbell rang and her face lit up. It was Derek, she knew it, she could feel it. He had come to his senses and had come to tell her. Emily quickly ran to the door. Opening it, she was in for quite a different shock._

"_Emily!" Rossi exclaimed in surprise. "What's wrong? What happened?"_

_At the moment the sight of this man just brought even more anger to her and hatred. Quickly, she tried to shut the door on him._

"_Emily!" he said in surprise, as he blocked her attempt._

_He was too strong so she let go and turned back into her apartment._

"_Just go away, Dave. I don't need you right now. Please, just go," she pleaded._

_She heard only silence at her pleas and then she felt his hand touch her shoulder. She jerked away abruptly. She turned around._

"_Don't touch me," she hissed. "This is all your fault!"_

_He put up his hands plaintively. "What is? What's happened, Emily? Are you hurt?" he asked concernedly._

_Her eyes teared up at his questions. "Am… Am I hurt?" she nodded. "My… my heart it's…" she trailed off. He took a step towards her. "Don't!" she shouted._

_She saw the sadness and pity in his eyes. He turned towards the door and she was grateful that he was leaving. Instead, he shut the door with him still on the inside._

"_Dave," she pleaded._

_He turned around shaking his head. "Something happened, Emily. I'm not going to go, leaving you like this. Now what happened tonight?"_

_She could see he wasn't going to leave until she gave up something. She walked back to the couch before speaking._

"_Derek…" she began, choking on the words. "Derek… broke up with me…"_

_There was silence at that. She looked over her shoulder; he was still standing by the door staring at her contemplatively._

"_It's temporary…" she quickly assured._

"_Are you sure?" Rossi asked, walking to the couch._

"_Yes," she replied quickly._

_He sat down next to her. "Then why are you crying?"_

_She opened her mouth to speak and then shut it a couple of times. Finally, she found the words she wanted. "It is. Why are you here anyways? This is all your fault, you know. I don't want you here. I don't even like you."_

_He gave her a patronizing smile. She felt like hitting him. "Emily I'm not the one who broke your heart; Derek did."_

"_You didn't help," she assured. "And like I said, it _is_ temporary."_

"_Really?"_

"_Yes," she said again. "I'll prove it."_

_She reached for her phone and dialled Derek's number._

"_Emily what are you doing?"_

"_I'm calling him," she answered._

"_I don't think that's a good idea." He made to reach for the phone but she pulled away. "Emily," he warned._

"_Shh…" she scolded. She heard the click of Derek's phone. "Derek?" she spoke quickly. "Derek, it's me…"_

"_Emily?" came Derek's sad voice. "Emily, what's—Emily… I can't…"_

"_Wait!" she shouted. "Don't go. I need you!"_

"_Emily… I can't," Derek replied. And then he hung up._

_She pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at it in shock. "He… he hung up on me…"_

_Rossi reached for the phone pulling it from her hands. "I know Emily."_

"_He… didn't even want… to talk," she said, starting to shake._

"_I'm sorry Emily," Rossi said sincerely, putting a hand on her shoulder. She had no more energy to fight him._

"_I… just wanted to talk. That's all. He… he didn't even want to hear my voice," she choked on a sob. "He doesn't love me anymore."_

_She broke down into a fit of sobs. And Rossi pulled her into his arms to comfort her._

He had stayed with her the whole night. Just making sure she had anything she needed. She was grateful to him for that.

Strangely—or not—they hadn't talked about that night since. That or Derek. It was like the topic was forbidden. But she always felt it there, lurking whenever she was hanging out with Rossi.

"So, what do you want to do?" Dave asked her. "We could go to that movie Reid was talking about. The guy's are all going. It could be—"

"No," Emily was quick to deny. "No, I don't want to see it."

All her friends would be there, including Derek.

Rossi let out a sigh, stopping them in the middle of the sidewalk. People had to go around them, shooting them glares.

"Emily," Rossi started.

"Let's not talk about this now, Dave," Emily suggested.

"Then when Emily," he replied unhappily. "They're going to find out sometime. I want them to find out, they're our friends. They'd be happy for us."

"Dave," she warned.

"Ok, scratch that, most of them will be happy for us," Rossi said truthfully. "This _is_ about him, isn't it?"

"Dave, please. I don't think I'm ready for anyone to know that we're…that we're…" she faltered with the words.

"We're dating Emily," he said annoyed.

"I know that Dave," she replied, still not saying the words. She grabbed the lapels of his jacket, pulling him closer. "Look, can't it just be enough that we're together right now? That we're having fun spending time together? Please…"

She leaned up and gave him a quick peck. His face softened. "Ok, I understand." She started to pull away but he pulled her back. "But Emily you know I care about you, right?"

She smiled. "I know. And thanks Dave."

* * *

"What the heck did you do Derek?"

He let out a heavy sigh as he shut his fridge and turned to face his sister. "Desiree, remind me again why you're here?"

"Someone had to rush over here and knock some sense into you once we heard you broke up with the best thing that ever happened to you," Desiree replied indignantly.

He handed her a bottle of water. "I was hurting her… and she was hurting me…"

"And so you gave up?" Desiree asked incredulously.

He sat down on the stool on the opposite side of the island. "It's not that easy Desiree. Things became complicated."

"That other guy." Desiree nodded. "The one you work with."

"Yeah, that bastard was going after her even while we were together," Derek confirmed.

Desiree leaned across the island and lightly knocked him on the head with the water bottle.

"Oww… Desiree what was that for?" he complained.

"Did Emily have feelings for him?" she asked instead of answering.

"I don't think so," Derek shook his head.

"So you broke up with her because another guy had feelings for her?"

"I told you it was complicated," he said adamantly.

Desiree leaned over again ready to hit him on the head. But he blocked her. "Desiree!"

"Derek, you idiot, do you know what you did?" she asked angrily.

"I think so," he replied annoyed.

"You left her open to that man. She now has no reason to stop resisting him," Desiree replied, mad. "You basically handed Emily to him."

"They're not together," Derek denied.

"Yeah, ok, but guess what, she's not here is she?" she said rhetorically. "Instead you're here sitting at home with your sister."

"What am I supposed to do, Des?" he asked sadly.

"Fix it," Desiree replied. "Or the next person to come down here is mom. And she'll do more than hit you over the head."

"How do I fix it? She won't talk to me. She'll barely look at me anymore," he told her, hurt.

"You hurt her Derek," Desiree agreed. "But she still cares."

"How do you know?"

"She would have moved on by now, if she didn't," Desiree said simply, but logically.

Derek flipped his phone open. Emily was still number one on his speed dial. Maybe his sister was right. Maybe they still had a chance. Maybe he'd fight for her.

* * *

Emily's phone rang loudly. She and Rossi had decided to watch a movie at his place. Her phone was set on the coffee table.

"Don't answer it," Rossi suggested.

She reached for it. "I just want to see who it is."

She looked at the bright LCD screen and her mouth dropped open.

"Who is it?" Dave asked curiously.

"Uh…" she looked at him quickly, then at the screen. "Uh… I have to take this… excuse me."

She stood up quickly and made her way to the bathroom. Shutting the door behind her, she flipped it open. "Uh… hi."

"Emily," she heard Derek's relieved voice. "I thought you wouldn't pick up."

Suddenly, she remembered she was still angry at him. "What do you need Morgan?" she said tersely.

"Uh…" he faltered.

"_Go on, tell her,"_ Emily heard a woman's voice in the background.

Something squeezed in Emily's chest.

"You've got company. I should let you go," Emily said emotionlessly.

"No wait Emily," he said urgently. "It's just Desiree."

"Oh," Emily answered. The relief she felt was acute. "She's in town?"

"Yeah," he said simply.

There was a moment's silence. She let out a sigh. "What do you want Derek?"

"I… I was wondering," he began. "I was wondering… if you'd like to have lunch with Desiree tomorrow."

"_Derek!"_ she heard Desiree shout.

"Sure," Emily answered, surprised. "I'd like that."

"Ok, good, she'll pick you up from work," Derek planned.

"_Derek, do not hang up!"_ Desiree protested.

"Ok, I look forward to it," she said awkwardly.

"All right, bye," Derek replied.

"_Derek, I'm going to kick—"_ Emily heard, but the line went dead.

She stared at the phone a moment longer. It was one strange conversation. She had been communicating with Derek's sisters through email since her visit at Christmas. But Desiree hadn't mentioned a visit. And Emily knew that if Desiree did visit she'd want to see her. But why did she seem so angry?

She shook her head. Oh well, she guessed she'd find out tomorrow at lunch.

She opened the door and made her way back to the living room. Dave was still watching the movie and didn't look up when she sat back down next to him.

It was a minute after sitting down that he spoke up. "Important phone call?"

She looked at him to gauge his reaction. "Sort of."

He turned to look at her accusingly. "It was Derek wasn't it?"

"Dave," she shook her head. "Don't look at me like that. He was just calling to tell me his sister's in town."

"Funny, she couldn't tell you that herself," he replied.

"I don't know, maybe she forgot my number," she tried to rationalize.

Rossi stood up.

"Dave?"

"Still doesn't change the fact that when you saw it was his number you rushed to get away from me and answer him," Rossi said.

"Dave…" she trailed off as he walked down the hall further into his apartment, away from her. She dropped her head into her hands with a groan. "Man, can anything go right?"

* * *

"Ugh!" Emily groaned, putting her head down on her desk. "Work on a Saturday? Is someone trying to kill us?"

"Cheer up hun," Garcia said, patting her head. "At least it's not you the latest unsub is trying to kill."

Emily sat up. "Ha ha, funny."

But Garcia was right, the latest unsub was going after brunette's in D.C. and she was thankful she wasn't one of them, no matter how much her life sucked at the moment.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Garcia said sincerely.

"The case?" Emily asked confused.

"No," Garcia blew out. "The Derek/Emily/Rossi triangle."

Emily's eyes widened. "You know?" Garcia nodded. "Anyone else know?"

"Nope just me," Garcia assured. "And let me tell you we've got to talk about this questionable move you've made. Leaving a stud like Derek for Rossi—granted he is hot in his own way—has me baffled."

Emily's face fell. "Let me tell you, it wasn't all my choice."

Garcia was going to say more when a sad looking JJ entered the bull pen.

"Another long face," Garcia said instead, shaking her head.

JJ was about to walk straight for her office when Emily stopped her. "JJ, are you ok?"

JJ looked up startled. She changed her path and made her way towards them. "I don't know. Last night… my mom talked to Hailey."

"Your mom talked to Hailey?" Garcia scoffed.

Well it was good to know that she wasn't the only one having the weird night last night.

"Yeah, I know," JJ said to her best friends.

"And how'd that go?" Emily asked.

"Well, I didn't hear Hailey's half of the conversation," JJ started. "But from what I heard from my mom she was having a great time talking to her. At one point I think they were exchanging recipes."

Emily and Garcia shared a look.

"Weird," Garcia murmured.

"I know, right," JJ said in agreement. "And then she talked to Hotch."

Emily winced, imagining that conversation. "Is he ok?"

"Perfect. She was fine with the idea of Jack staying longer. My mom, Henry, and Jack are all out together as we speak."

One big happy family, Emily suddenly longed for that.

"So, it's just you that she can't stand then," Garcia said bluntly.

JJ nodded. "Guess so. Which is weird we used to get along, before—"

"Before you stole her man away," Garcia finished.

"Garcia!" Emily exclaimed, wondering what had gotten into her friend.

"But I didn't… I didn't do anything," JJ stuttered. "I… I had Will. I would have never…"

"Relax JJ," Garcia quickly replied, Emily sent her friend a glare. "I didn't mean you did. But that's how she sees it. Now that you and Hotch are together, Hailey can't help but wonder if anything ever happened between you two, way before, like out on cases and stuff."

It made sense, but Garcia didn't have to put it to words.

"But that's just crazy… we never… we never even had time for that kind of thing. We were working," JJ said incredulously.

"I didn't say it was rational."

"Wow," JJ said.

"What?" Emily asked worriedly.

"She thinks I was the other woman," JJ said slowly.

"JJ who cares what she thinks. You two know you weren't," Garcia assured.

"Besides," Emily added. "What matters now is that you are _the_ only woman."

JJ nodded.

"Look, we've got to get this case started," JJ said. "But thanks for listening guys."

* * *

_Oh man, this was awkward,_ Derek thought as he climbed into the driver's seat of the SUV.

He glanced over at the woman sitting next to him. She was already seated and was already fixated on staring out the window.

Derek suddenly wondered why Hotch had decided to pair the two of them on victimology. Since Hotch had kept them apart sine their break-up, why now did he want them to work together?

He wasn't going to get answers from Emily, not like this. Desiree was right, he needed to fix things. At least so they could go back to talking—getting back together was a long shot.

He let out a sigh and turned on the car. "Guess we should get back. Desiree's probably waiting for you at the BAU."

"Yeah," Emily agreed.

He started to drive away. "Emily…" he began.

She didn't answer, but she didn't tell him to shut up either.

"About last night," he continued. "I wasn't actually only calling about Desiree."

She looked at him then, her face a mask with no emotions. "Oh?" she wondered.

"I… um… I wanted to talk," he paused. "About um… us."

He turned to look at her again, the mask was still there, but there was a flicker of something in her eyes before they hardened, something that gave him hope.

"Figured everything out yet?" she asked coldly, before turning to look out the window.

Derek nodded. "Ok, I deserved that. Emily, I'm sorry. I just wanted the hurting to stop," he explained. "But… it didn't."

He'd caught her attention again. "It didn't?"

He shook his head. "This past month, Emily, has been hell for me."

"Me too," she whispered.

Her barely there admission was all he needed. "Emily, I'm so sorry. I was a huge idiot. I still care about you. I still l—"

"Derek, wait," she cut him off. "You did hurt me. And this past month without you has been hard. But I need time. I can't just jump back into things with you. I… I don't know if things can go back to the way they used to be."

That was fair, though the thought of not being with her ever again nearly killed him.

"Ok, I understand," he assured her. "I can give you that. I just hope you know that I do care about you. And that I will never ever give up on you again."

Her face softened at that. "Thanks for letting me know Derek," she responded. "I… um… still—"

Derek felt that she was about to say something important when Emily's phone rang.

"Hello?" Emily answered. He watched her smile as she listened in on the other end. "Yeah we're almost there."

She turned to look at Derek. "Your sister," she quickly told him.

"Oh, tell her to hold her horses," Derek informed.

Emily relayed the message. "She says to get some new sayings; they're showing your age."

"Wait until I get there," Derek joked.

Emily laughed. It was nice to hear and Derek was suddenly very grateful for his sister's visit.

* * *

"Wow, my brother is an idiot," Desiree confirmed after listening to Emily tell the whole story.

Emily nodded. "I couldn't believe it when it happened, but now…"

"Now you've accepted it," Desiree finished.

The word accepted made Emily uneasy. She shook her head. "No, I still wish things were different, but what can I do?"

"Derek wants things to change," Desiree offered.

"I know," Emily answered. "He told me before I came to meet you at the BAU."

"Oh thank God. I thought I was going to have to call my mom," Desiree said relieved. "And she would definitely kick his butt."

Emily laughed.

"So, what did you have to say?" Desiree asked.

Emily let out a sigh. "That I needed time. That I wasn't sure if I could go back to all that."

"But…"

"But…" Emily hesitated. "What I really wanted to say was that I'd take him back in a second."

Desiree nodded knowingly. "You don't want to seem like a pushover, right?"

"That, and…"

Emily winced when realization hit Desiree's face.

"Oh no, no don't tell me," Desiree stated. "You're with that guy. Emily, how could you?"

"No it's not like that. With is a strong word, we've only went out a couple of times," Emily defended.

"Still does Derek know?" She shook her head. "Of course not, he wouldn't be trying to get you back if he did."

"No one knows except you and Garcia," Emily offered. "He was there for me after Derek broke up with me."

"Still, Emily…" Desiree said unsurely. "I'm not sure Derek would be able to forgive you if he found out. What are you going to do?"

"I'm not sure," she admitted. "Why can't anything ever be easy?"

"I can't answer that," Desiree replied. "But what I can say is that Derek has never loved anyone as much as he loves you."

Emily nodded solemnly. "I love him too."

"I won't tell him. You're my friend and I know you'll do whatever you think is best," Desiree assured.

"Thanks," Emily said gratefully. "So, come on, enough about me, tell me what's up with—"

And just then her cell phone rang. She glanced at the ID and winced. "I'm sorry Desiree; I've got to take this. Work."

Desiree nodded for her to go on.

"Hotch, what's up?" she answered.

Her boss went on to tell her that they had a lead on the case and he needed her to check it out. That Reid and Morgan would meet her there too. She said she'd go and hung up.

"Duty calls?" Desiree asked.

"Yeah, I'm so sorry. You come into town, all we do is talk about me and now I've got to go."

Desiree smiled. "I'm used to it with Derek."

"You sticking around for a bit?" she asked as she stood up.

"Yeah, a couple of days," she replied. "Call me later."

Emily nodded and was off.

* * *

Emily knew she probably should wait for Derek and Reid, but Hotch had only said it was a lead, not the actual unsub's place. Still to be safe she did have her FBI vest on.

She approached the front door of the house and knocked tentatively on it. It swung on its hinges at the force of her knock. This wasn't good. The house belonged to Joan Horton, a brunette. Hotch and the team felt she may have come in contact with the unsub in the past, if not recently.

"Ms. Horton!" Emily asked. "If your inside or hurt let me know."

Emily heard nothing. She pulled her gun out of its holster and pushed open the door. Slowly, she made her way inside shouting her FBI status as she went through.

Clearing the first floor she made her way upstairs. Her first stop was where she found the body. Hanging limp over the side of a bathtub was, she assumed, Joan Horton.

Getting closer Emily could see that Ms. Horton's head was floating in the water. On the woman's neck were bruises from where the unsub had held her down. Things were tossed around. Joan Horton didn't go without a fight.

Emily was saddened by the fact that she'd been too late. But now she had to do her job and get this guy.

She turned back to the body ready to profile the scene when she heard a creak come from inside the house.

Holding out her gun in front of her she stepped into the doorway of the bathroom. She looked left and right. There were bedrooms on both sides. She chose left. Slowly, she made her way down the hall; she tentatively opened the first door on her right. No one was in there. The next door was at the very end of the hall. Again she approached it, and nothing.

She was ready to turn back around and check the right side of the hall way, when she heard the creak again. This time it came form right behind her. She spun around quickly only to have some object come smashing down on the side of her head. Her gun dropped from her hand as she crumpled to her knees. Her hands went first to grasp her head and then quickly out to protect herself as her attacker gave her a swift kick to the stomach.

She hurt, hurt real bad. She fell to her side on the floor. She knew if she didn't put the pain aside that if she didn't think fast she'd be in serious trouble.

The man grabbed at her ankle and started to drag her. Realizing he had the same fate in mind as he had for Joan Horton she kicked at him to no avail. Then it her, Derek was on the way. She reached into her pocket and hit number one on her speed dial.

"Let go of me!" she yelled. "Let go!"

She continued to yell, hoping Derek would get there in time.

* * *

"Why does Hotch think this woman may be a lead?" Morgan asked.

He'd been out investigating a tip when the team came up with the idea that Joan Horton knew the unsub.

"The woman heard the description JJ gave on the news. She thought it sounded identical to an ex-boyfriend she'd had a restraining order put on. We checked it; Craig Foreman has one long disturbed history.

"We think all these women are all substitutes for Joan. She's the one he's really after," Reid finished.

"If that's the case we need to get there and fast," Derek said concernedly.

"Uh… Hotch called Emily too. Turns out she's closer than us," Reid offered.

"What!" Derek exclaimed. "Is he crazy? He sent Emily alone. Emily, a brunette? Exactly who this guy is killing," Derek fumed. His foot hit the gas pedal harder.

"Whoa Derek, Emily knows she needs to wait for us," Reid said reasonably. "She'll be fine. Besides she's a trained agent."

Reid's words didn't exactly comfort him. He had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach and he didn't let up on the speed.

His phone suddenly rang and he pulled it out of his pocket. A quick glance revealed it was Emily. But the relief he felt was quickly replaced by an intense fear.

"Emily, thank God—"

"Let go of me," he heard Emily shout. "Let go!"

His stomach dropped. She was being attacked by the unsub.

"Emily!" he yelled. "Emily we're on our way."

"Derek what is it?" Reid asked urgently.

"It's Emily, I think the unsub's got her," Derek said fearfully.

"No," she shouted. "Derek, please hurry, please—"

He heard her phone click off. "Damn it!" he yelled. He must have found her phone. He was going to kill the guy once he found him.

"What happened? What's going on?" Reid questioned.

"We need to be there, now."

* * *

Emily awoke later, feeling groggy. Her mind was still foggy and for a second she had no idea where she was. But then she heard a sound that clued her in, the beeps of machines. She was in the hospital.

And then the events of the past day flashed into her mind. Her talk with Derek, lunch with Desiree. Finding Joan Horton dead and almost becoming a victim herself.

After dialling Derek's number the unsub dragged her towards the bathroom. She knew he had the same fate planned for her as he did Joan. She remembered praying to God that help would arrive, that Derek would save her. And then he had shoved her under.

The next thing she remembered was coughing up water while Derek hovered over her. He had given her CPR. He had saved her life. He had pulled her into his arms where she assumed she passed out because she couldn't remember anything after that.

"Hey there, sleepyhead," she heard from her right.

She turned and found her hero sitting in a chair smiling at her, looking relieved.

"Derek," she said, surprised by how hoarse her voice sounded.

"Don't talk," he told her. "The doctors said your throat would be sore for a bit."

She ignored his advice. "Thank you Derek," she murmured. She reached a hand out to touch his cheek, a smile on her face, when the sound of throat clearing came from her left.

She turned and found Rossi sitting in a chair. "Dave," she said in surprise.

"Emily, I am so sorry I wasn't there for you. I'm so sorry you got hurt. I can't believe I almost lost you," Rossi said, clearly distraught.

Emily was about to respond, to let him know it wasn't his fault, but Derek spoke first.

"I was there," Derek informed. "I got there just in time."

She looked to both men as they glared daggers at each other. She wanted to say something to alleviate the tension but she didn't know what.

Luckily she didn't have to.

"Hey, you're awake!" Garcia exclaimed from the doorway. "She's awake," she called out to someone outside.

Her room was suddenly full to the brim with people as Garcia was followed by JJ, Reid, Desiree, and a more pensive looking than usual Hotch.

He approached her immediately. "I'm sorry Emily. I shouldn't have sent you alone."

Emily shook her head. "You couldn't have known. It wasn't your fault Hotch."

He nodded solemnly and stood by JJ taking her hand.

She was tired, but she had to deal with the group of well wishers before she could go back to sleep.

* * *

"How's Emily doing?" Desiree asked over the phone. She'd had to go back home for work.

"Uh… good," Derek answered. "She gets to go home today."

"And your not there for her?" Desiree scolded.

"Come on Des, she has someone there for her," Derek replied, letting out a sad sigh. "Were you going to tell me she's with Rossi?"

"Derek, don't be like that," Desiree protested. "You gave up on her once, that's how she ended up with Rossi in the first place. Don't give up on her again. Fight for her. She wants you too."

"She does?" he asked sceptically.

"Yes, she does. I know you're the baby of the family, but can you stop acting like one please?" Desiree pleaded.

"I don't know…" he hesitated.

"Listen to me Derek, go over there right now," Desiree implored. "Trust me; this is the first step in getting her back."

"Second," Derek corrected absently.

"What?"

"Second step. First step was making sure she was alive for me to take the second step," he explained.

"Why are you still talking to me, being a smart Alec? Go and put your energy into getting back your soul mate!" Desiree said dramatically.

"Ok, ok, I'm going," Derek relented, smiling. "Thanks Des, for everything."

"What are big sisters for?" she asked. He was about to answer when she cut him off. "Wait. Don't answer that."

* * *

Emily packed the few belongings she had with her in the overnight bag Garcia and JJ had thought to bring her. She was glad to be getting out of the hospital. She hated them. But she was thankful that her stay was relatively short, only a week. Doctors said she was fine, but for a few bruises and a bruised trachea and larynx. They advised her to not talk a lot for the next week or so, which was fine by her. Talking was not something she really wanted to do with anyone, especially, those closest to her, namely Rossi and Derek.

After waking up at the hospital with both men at her side she was pretty sure her relationship status was out of the bag. Something squeezed in her chest at the thought of Derek knowing she was with Rossi.

After all her protests and denials that she didn't want Rossi she got with him the minute she was free. _What was she doing? she asked herself._

But that wasn't fair. Derek had hurt her. It was only human to seek comfort from someone who cared, someone who actually wanted you. But even though she knew she was doing what was safe for her, she remembered the look in Derek's eyes as he had left her room that first night in the hospital and Rossi had stayed. It was hurt and maybe betrayal.

She knew what was squeezing in her chest. It was her heart.

There was a knock and an utterance of her name that had her whirling around in surprise.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you."

She stared openly. "Derek, what are you doing here?"

He looked sheepish as he tried to smile, but it faded away quickly. "I heard you were getting out today. I didn't want you to be alone, but now that I think about it, Rossi's probably picking you up. I should go—"

"No!" she exclaimed abruptly.

He gave her a strange look that had her blushing at her outburst.

"I mean, no he's not. Da—Rossi's got this book signing he couldn't get out of. Garcia's supposed to be driving me home."

"Oh," he said, looking at her blankly. "Well… I guess I could wait with you until she gets here. If that's ok with you?"

She smiled at him, a first the past month. "I'd like that, thanks."

He nodded and came to stand next to her by the hospital bed. "Need any help?"

"Nope. I'm all done. Not much to pack," she replied.

They were silent for a second each not sure what to say next.

"How are you feeling?" Derek asked her.

She gave him another smile. "I'm great, thanks to you."

If it wasn't her imagination, she saw his cheeks darken a bit. It put warmth inside her.

"I'm glad," he said simply.

They stood in silence once again, until Derek broke it again, turning to face her.

"Emily," he began. "I am so sorry for everything you've gone through. If I could turn back time I would fix things in a second. I would make everything right."

She had more than a feeling that he wasn't just talking about the attack on her by the unsub. But she needed him to elaborate. She couldn't risk her heart again, at least, not on a mere feeling. She needed more.

"Derek, there's nothing to be sorry for. It was my fault for not waiting for backup. I slipped up. It was my overconfidence that got met hurt," she said instead.

"Wha—No Emily, I'm not talk—" Derek started frustrated.

"How's my lovely girl doing?" Garcia burst into the room. Her cheerful smile faded when her eyes fell on the tense looking pair. "Whoa... am I interrupting something?"

Emily looked at Derek, who after briefly looking at Garcia had fixed his eyes on her. The intensity of his look answered Garcia's question for Emily. She had totally interrupted something.

"Uh… yoo hoo, guys?" Garcia continued.

"Uh… yeah Penelope…" Derek answered, snapping his gaze from Emily's. "I was just leaving," but he turned to look back at her. "But, Emily is there anyway we can talk, sooner rather than later?"

She nodded dumbly and then found her voice again. "Uh yeah… I'll um… call you tonight?"

"Sure," he confirmed.

And then with a quick bye to Garcia he was gone. She stared at the door as it swung closed after him.

A touch on her arm brought her out of her daze and she turned to her right to see Garcia looking at her concernedly.

"Are you all right?" she asked worriedly.

Emily thought about the question for a good minute. How did she feel after seeing him? After realizing he had come here to make things right between them? After he possibly tried to confess his feelings for her?

"I feel…" she began, smiling. "Good."

* * *

"I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you today," Rossi said to her remorsefully.

Emily smiled. "Hey, I said it was ok. It's not like I'm really hurt or anything," she scoffed.

When he didn't reply right away she looked up from her Chinese food to see him looking at her unhappily.

"Emily, you could have died," Rossi reminded her.

She nodded, looking solemn. "I know, but I didn't."

"Yeah, thanks to him," Rossi murmured, but Emily caught it.

She chose to ignore the comment. They hadn't got to the conversation about why it was Derek she had phoned and not him. And she didn't feel like going into that.

"Thanks for the Chinese food," she said instead.

"It was the least I could do," he told her.

They sat in silence again. It seemed like everyone wanted to give her throat a rest.

She watched as he continued to eat in silence.

"So…" she began. "How was the book signing?"

He looked up and smiled. "There were no crazy fans, if you're asking. I think it's pretty clear to them who my heart belongs to now."

Emily blushed; remembering he had dedicated the book to her, his number one fan.

"So, it went… good, I take it," she finished.

He nodded again. And then that same palpable silence overtook the room again. It frustrated her. She didn't want it to be silent; silence left her to her thoughts and she didn't want to go there right now.

Her frustration was the reason why she blurted out what she did next.

"Derek, can we just—" she cut herself off by putting her hand over her mouth.

Rossi looked up at her and stared, not saying anything.

"I'm sorry," she quickly said. "Dave, I don't know why—I didn't mean to—"

His sigh stopped her stuttering. He wiped his hands on his napkin, getting up, and turning towards the door.

She got up following, alarmed by his actions. "Dave what are you doing? Where are you going? I said, I didn't mean to call you—"

"Derek," he finished for her. "I know. But you did and that tells me something."

She shook her head. "It means nothing. I saw him today; I guess he was just on my mind."

That was an understatement.

"He's been on you mind for awhile, hasn't he?" he asked. But he didn't let her answer. "I'd say since before the attack, at least. Actually, he probably hasn't been off your mind the whole time we were together."

"That's not fair," she said stung by his accusations.

"Emily, don't worry, I'm not mad. I knew what I was getting into when I pursued you. I took this chance," he said, taking the blame. "I'm just sad that we couldn't make this work."

She stepped towards him. "Dave all I did was say his name. Are you… are you breaking up with me over a silly mistake?"

He shook his head. "No, I'm breaking up with you because I care about you, love you actually."

She gave him a confused look. "I—"

"I'm breaking up with you before I get even more invested in this. I'm avoiding the pain later on when you leave me for Derek," Rossi explained.

"Dave…" she tried again, faltering. She stared as he put on his jacket.

He gave her a sad smile. "I understand Emily. You never did stop loving him."

He turned to open the door, ready to leave her. He was in the doorway, one foot out, when he turned back around, approaching her. He put his hands on her forearms and leaned into her. She closed her eyes, feeling his lips against her cheek.

What else could she say to him?

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

Not much, because he was right about everything.

* * *

Derek waited impatiently for the phone to ring. She said she'd phone him. It was already ten pm. It was getting late. Why hadn't she phoned? _Maybe,_ he thought, _she didn't want to hear what he had to say._

He'd been playing out how the conversation would go over and over in his head since he'd left the hospital. He'd been rehearsing exactly what he wanted to say.

But in the end, he threw away the long speeches he was going to make, because he knew exactly what he wanted to say.

'I love you,' he thought, plain and simple.

Now all he needed was to hear her voice.

There was a knock at his door and he considered not answering it. But, he could send whoever it was away once he found out who it was.

He walked to the door and opened it without looking outside first.

"Emily!" he exclaimed in surprise.

She pushed past him and walked quickly into his apartment. He swung the door shut and turned to watch her pace feverishly in his living room.

"Emily, I thought you were going to call me?" he asked. "I thought we were going to talk over the phone?"

He joined her in the living room. She stopped pacing and faced him. The look in her eyes both scared him and delighted him.

"Emily?"

Suddenly, her arms were around him and her lips were crashing down over his. She was kissing him. It only took him a second for him to respond, throwing his arms around her, matching her urgency.

But, a minute later, he had to pull back. Too many questions were blazing through his mind.

"Emily," he said wrenching his lips from hers. It wasn't easy, she went on kissing him. He let her for another moment until he had to get some answers.

He put both his hands on her shoulders and held her at arms length.

"Emily wait, we need to talk," he protested.

Emily shook her head. "Can we not? I don't feel like talking. Besides, I'm not supposed to talk much."

She reached for him again, but he held her back. "Emily, what happened? Rossi—"

"Derek!" she cut him off. "Please, let's not talk right now. All you need to know is that I'm here now and that I still love you. And I was hoping you still loved me."

She stared at him, waiting for his answer. She still loved him, wanted him. After he hurt her, she still wanted him. It amazed him. He didn't know what happened with Rossi. But he wasn't going to mess it up, not again.

"I love you," he said plain and simple.

And then he let go of her shoulders and they came together, arms wrapping around each other, lips fusing, coming together.

* * *

Well that's it for now. The longest chapter I've ever written. I hope it was enjoyable. It was probably less angsty then the last chapter, but still full of the drama I love.

Hope you all enjoyed. Told you it had a good ending.

Just wanted to thank everyone who reviewed: **star jelly** _(thanks! I'm really all about the drama. :) )_; **kwy 0202**; **mishma **_(Sorry for the evil ending last chapter. Hope this made up for it)_; **ArwenLalaith **_(Does this chapter make you think of a song?)_; and **Caramel . Tart** _(That was one of my most favourite moments to write, glad you enjoyed it.)._

Next chapter will be up soon.

Leave me a review and let me know what you think!

Thanks!


	12. Children

**A/N:** Hey all! Sorry for the extra long wait, I've been having a few hectic months. But now that I've got a spare moment, here is the next instalment. Hope you enjoy! Please R&R!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Criminal Minds

**Chapter 12: Children:**

Emily carried in another box into her apartment, just as Derek was about to head out. She put the box down on her kitchen counter.

"Don't bother, this was the last one," Emily told him, as she wiped at her forehead.

Derek joined her in the kitchen. "Tired? I told you I could bring all the boxes in myself."

She reached up and kissed his cheek. "I love that you're still under the illusion that I'm a delicate female; even after you've seen me take down a few unsubs."

He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her back firmly against his chest. She leaned back into his embrace, loving the feeling of being held.

"You may be an excellent and very capable FBI agent, but that doesn't mean I can't still want to spare you a few extra burdens," he told her. She spun around in his arms to face him, giving his lips a quick kiss. "Besides, I'm the one moving into your apartment. I should move my own junk."

She pulled away from him, smiling. She picked up the box she had just put down and took it to the living room to be with the rest of the boxes.

"Anything I can do to speed up this process, I'll do," she said wholeheartedly, leaning down to place the box on the coffee table. Getting up, she was struck by a sudden cramp in her belly. She clutched at her stomach. "Ow!"

Derek was at her side instantly. "Emily, you ok?"

"Just a cramp," she brushed off.

"Delicate female or not, you've overdone it for today," he told her. He guided her to the couch, urging her to sit down. "You sit down right here. Don't move. I've got the rest of this."

"But how will you know where everything goes?" she asked pouting.

He bent down and kissed her pouting lips. Pulling back, he was grinning widely. "You'll just have to order me around."

She matched his grin. "I like that."

"Thought you would," he replied. "Now where should I start?"

She gave it a thought. "I cleaned out half my drawers and closet. Why don't you put away your clothes first?"

"Ok," he agreed. He picked up a box with some of his clothes and walked down the hall to her bedroom. Correction, their bedroom now.

Emily let out a happy, content sigh. Things were good now. Better than good, things were going better than she could have hoped for. No, things weren't perfect, but close enough.

They had been back together for about two months now. Some may have said that moving in together so quickly after just getting back together was too soon and a little crazy. But not them. The way Emily felt about Derek, it would never change. She'd love him forever. What was the point in holding back anymore?

Emily had to also credit their good status on the fact that they'd both taken some time off from work. A few weeks to be exact. They both had thought that they needed some time alone to fully reconnect. And fully reconnect they did, in Hawaii.

"What're you thinking about?" Derek inquired suddenly in the room again.

"Hawaii," she admitted.

He came to sit next to her. "Uh Hawaii… I'm going to miss that place."

"Me too," she affirmed.

"Ready to go back to work?"

She stared at him for a second. She knew why he was asking: Rossi.

"I am," Emily assured. "I think… I think Dave's moved on by now."

"I sure as hell hope so," Derek stated, annoyed.

She put a hand on his chest. "Have you?"

"Yes," he was quick to answer. "I have you back. That's all I care about. But—"

She cut him off. "It's done Derek. I swear."

Emily remembered going back to work after her encounter with the unsub. After breaking things off with Dave and going back to Derek, every bump in with Dave felt awkward, until he invited her into his office one day and basically told her he had moved on.

"I know Emily," Derek assured.

They sat in silence for a minute, Derek wrapping his arms around her, she leaning into his chest, listening to his heartbeat.

"I've got to admit," Derek began. "I really miss work."

"Me too."

* * *

"Oh my God! Oh my God!" Garcia exclaimed. "Did I just hear right? Did Emily just tell me you two moved in together?"

Derek chuckled as he swivelled in his chair to watch his girlfriend walk towards the break room.

"Calm down baby girl… she already told you?" he questioned.

"Yeah like two seconds ago," Garcia replied.

Emily had told Penelope and had left him to deal with the hyper blonde. "Yeah we moved in together."

"Oh my God! Oh my God!" she yelled. "Why didn't you get us to help like we did with Hotch and JJ?"

"We did ok by ourselves," Derek brushed it of.

"Uh… I see, you needed some alone time," Garcia said knowingly. "You two sure have needed a lot of that lately."

Derek laughed. "Yeah, I guess we have."

Garcia put a hand on his shoulder and looked at him with a rare serious look. 'Is everything really ok between you and Emily?"

"Garcia," he couldn't help smiling. "We just spent a week in Hawaii together, we're living together now. How can there be anything wrong?"

Garcia shrugged. "I guess. It's just that whole mess before scared me. You two are perfect for each other. Don't forget it."

"I won't make the same mistake twice," Derek agreed.

She patted his shoulder. "Good, because I see little Derek's and Emily's in you future."

"Whoa Penelope," Derek scoffed. "We just got back together."

"So?" she said, walking away.

Derek sat, thinking thoughtfully. Hmm… kids, he'd never really thought about it before. But, now… he would wait a little longer, until… well he wasn't sure when he'd mention it to Emily. He guessed when the time felt right.

For now he'd just enjoy his time with the love of his life.

* * *

Emily felt only a little bad for dropping the news on Garcia and letting Derek deal with the questions. But, only a little.

It was still early and she couldn't function without a morning cup of coffee. She entered the break room and almost exited immediately.

"Dave," she said in surprise, when he spun around catching her.

He smiled politely. "Emily."

She realized she was staring when he gave her a raised eyebrow. Emily looked down, hoping to hide her sudden blush. She walked past him to the coffee machine.

"Just needed some coffee," she said, her back turned to him.

"Is this how its gong to be from now on?" he asked.

She turned around, not exactly sure what he meant.

"Is every encounter between us going to be awkward from now on?" Rossi continued. "Because I already told you that I moved on."

She let out a sigh. "How can you not hate me? Or at least be angry with me?"

"Because I care about you, I can't hate you," he admitted and then added. "You're my friend."

Emily smiled. "Thanks Dave."

She turned back to the coffee, pouring; she thought he'd left until she was startled by his presence suddenly at her side.

"Friend to friend, I've got a bit of gossip that I thought would brighten up your day," he told her.

"Really?" she said intrigued.

"Guess who I went ring shopping with this weekend?" he offered.

Her face lit up and her mouth dropped open. "No way! Did he ask her yet?"

"Not yet," Rossi informed. "I think the guys trying to think up a way to ask her that will knock her socks off."

Emily shook her head. "He just has to ask. She'd say yes to him in an instant."

"I know. They were made for each other," Rossi affirmed.

"This is great! I can't wait to see the ring," Emily exclaimed. "I hope he does it soon."

"Yeah me too," Rossi said. "But you didn't hear it from me."

Emily nodded. "My lips are sealed."

He smiled at her, giving her an extra look that had her looking down and blushing again before he turned and left.

She wondered briefly how long he would have that affect on her. She chalked it all up to the childhood crush and then pushed it out of her mind. Because none of that mattered anymore. She now had the exact life she wanted. The perfect boyfriend, perfect job, and perfect friends. There really was no room for anything else at the moment. Emily had everything she wanted; she couldn't foresee anything bad happening.

"How could you?" she heard Derek suddenly accuse.

Startled, she spilled her coffee all over the counter. She turned around expecting to see him angry. Instead, he was smiling.

"How could I what?" she asked tentatively.

"Leave me to fend for myself with Garcia," he elaborated.

"Oh, _oh_," she said letting out a breath. "Sorry."

Derek chuckled, grabbing some paper towel to clean up the coffee mess. "What's up Emily? You seem kind of jumpy today."

"Not sure," she admitted. "I'm feeling kind of anxious. But I don't know why. Maybe I just need to drink my coffee."

She knew that wasn't it. But she couldn't put her finger on it. It felt like she was waiting for something. What? She didn't know.

"Maybe you're anxious about working a case after weeks away," Derek offered.

"Maybe," she answered. But she knew that wasn't it. Derek was watching her with concern so she quickly brushed it off. "Whatever, I'm sure it'll pass. Don't worry."

He watched her a moment more before nodding. "Ok, well JJ has a case for us."

She nodded. "Ok let's go."

Eager to have this out of her mind, she was ready for a case.

* * *

Derek watched the couple sitting alone together, curiously. Hotch was reviewing the case file for the hundredth time and JJ sat at his side, blackberry in front of her, monitoring the media releases. Both perfectly professional, except for their entwined hands between them.

Derek leaned his head close to his own significant other and whispered, "Did you ever think it was weird for Hotch and JJ to get together?"

Emily looked up at him from her own work then to the couple across the plane. "Nope, I just thought it was about time."

"Really?"

"Well, don't get me wrong I'm sad that Will died. But those two are perfect for each other. They complement each other, you know?" Emily explained.

He nodded. He guessed they did. "Do we complement each other?"

She smiled. "A little. But with us it's more we're a match for each other. You know, we like the same kind of things. We have similar personalities. We fit together."

"True," he simply answered.

"What's with the questions?" she wondered, placing a hand on his forearm.

"Nothing," he started then continued. "I just thought it was weird that JJ and Hotch got together first. And then us. When did the BAU become a dating service?"

"You got any objections?" Emily asked with a raised eyebrow.

He chuckled, leaning in he gave her a kiss. "No, definitely not."

"Besides, Garcia and Reid both got their significant others outside the BAU," Emily conjectured.

"Did I just hear my name?" Reid suddenly appeared, taking a seat across from them.

"Yeah, I haven't seen Layla, where has she been?" Emily questioned.

"Oh," Reid said surprised. "She's been on a case with her team in LA for awhile now."

"LA?" JJ spoke up.

"Yeah," Reid called back.

"Aren't you afraid she'll run into you old girlfriend?" JJ teased.

"Lila wasn't my girlfriend," Reid said clearly put out.

"Is anyone ever going to tell us that story?" Rossi inquired.

Derek let his thoughts wander as Reid and JJ told the awkward story of Lila. Instead, he thought about the woman next to him and how grateful he was to whoever was looking out for him that he didn't completely screw things up with her.

As he glanced over at David Rossi, a million thoughts ran through his head pertaining to the older profiler. But, in a million years, he would never have thought thankful would be one of them.

Because, as Derek's hand made its way to entwine with Emily's and she turned to smile that bright smile of hers, he was thankful that Rossi had given up so easily.

* * *

Emily groaned tiredly, as she slumped into her desk. She was much chagrined about being at work so soon after just coming home from a case the night before. It was very unusual for them to be back so quickly; something big must be up.

But for once the prospect of a new case didn't send that wave of excitement through her body like it usually did, only a wave of nausea instead.

She put her arms on her desktop and then her head followed suit. A few minutes later she heard distinctive chuckling come from behind her.

"Shut up," she murmured, annoyed by the perkiness of that chuckle.

She felt a hand smooth down her hair before she felt a pair of lips press against her temple.

"Now is that any way to talk to your boyfriend?" Derek joked.

"It is," she said into her arms, "when it seems that said boyfriend is a morning person."

"Don't like morning people?" Derek pondered. "How about a morning person with a steaming cup of coffee from the shop down the street, purchased specifically for a certain brunette."

Her head popped up quickly. "Give me."

"Oh sorry, I meant Hotch," he kidded and only gave up the cup when she sent him a withering glare.

"Thanks," she said appreciatively after taking a sip. Her stomach settled almost instantly.

It was strange how coffee had such a medicinal affect on her, so opposite of what most people felt.

"So, did they tell you what all this is about?" Derek asked her curiously.

She shook her head, too preoccupied with her lovely black liquid.

"Must be big," he continued, echoing her previous thoughts. "We just got off a case. We're not fresh yet. I wonder how bad it is."

"I don't know," Emily managed to say. "But looks like we're about to find out."

JJ was approaching them at a determined pace. "Guys we're ready," she said simply as she made her way to the conference room.

Emily let out a sigh.

"Duty calls," Morgan commented, standing up, he extended a hand and Emily took it.

Walking into the conference room they were very surprised to see an extra pair in the room in addition to the entire team.

"Layla? Kevin?" Emily said in wonder.

"Wow this must be big," Morgan said absently still believing this was all about a case.

The two guests just shrugged.

Emily and Derek took the two vacant seats as they waited for the meeting to begin.

JJ was standing at her usual spot; but it wasn't until Hotch rushed into the room and embraced JJ, apologizing for holding things up that Emily--and she was pretty sure everyone else-- finally clued in.

JJ turned to the room, positively beaming; her smile was contagious, infectious and Emily was sure she had a matching one of her own.

"We're so sorry to get you guys back here so quickly," JJ apologized but still looked radiant.

"But this was too important, it couldn't wait," Hotch continued, all seriousness.

"What happened?" Reid asked tentatively, confused by the conflicting emotions the couple was displaying.

"Last night, after we landed," JJ gushed out, she couldn't hold it back anymore. She thrust her left hand forward. "Aaron proposed."

Their was distinctive squealing noises just then, and Emily was only a little embarrassed to say that she took part in the said noise. But the sight of that ring on her good friend's finger made her—and the other women in the room—squeal happily.

Everyone was on their feet instantly to congratulate the newly engaged couple.

Emily hugged JJ. "I am so happy for you," she said genuinely.

"Thanks," the blonde replied affectionately.

She moved on to Hotch. This was probably the only occasion that she felt it less than awkward to give her boss a hug. And she did just that.

"Congratulations sir," she said.

"Thanks Prentiss," he replied smiling.

"Oh and your all invited to Henry's first birthday party," JJ announced.

* * *

"That kid is adorable," Derek announced as they stepped inside their apartment.

Emily smiled brightly at her boyfriend. She was seeing another side of Derek, a new one, one that she was liking a lot.

"Henry is a cutie," Emily agreed.

She took off her jacket and threw it onto the back of the couch. They had just returned from Henry's first birthday party.

"Did you notice how he played with my present the most?" Derek said proudly.

"You mean _our_ present?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

He looked at her sheepishly for a moment. "Oh … yeah, I mean our present…"

"Uh… Derek sorry to break it to you but I think Henry enjoyed the wrapping paper a tiny bit more."

She remembered how the infant crumpled up all the paper and threw himself onto the pile like they were a big pile of fallen leaves.

"Nah… that was just so no one else would get jealous," Derek denied. "But I saw how he was eying it."

Emily laughed, making her way down the hall into their bedroom, Derek following closely behind.

"Henry really loves his uncle Derek," she gave in.

She started to pull out a pair of comfy pyjamas to change when Derek's next question shocked her completely.

"Do you want kids?"

She turned slowly to find him considering her intently from the bed. Did she want kids? Of course, she did.

"Uh… yeah, someday," she answered, unsure of what he wanted to hear.

He nodded. "Me too… someday." He moved his gaze into his lap. And it seemed he was done with the conversation.

She turned back around but felt she needed to say something more. So she approached her bed and sat down on it. Derek looked up at her curiously.

"Remember that case with the two brothers killing entire families. It was around the time I first joined the BAU?" she began, wanting to share something deeply personal with him.

"Yeah, the two raised in a foster home with that horrible woman," Derek remembered.

"Remember Carrie Ortiz, the girl who survived the attempt on her family?" He nodded. "I offered to take her in… to become her foster parent. Really, I wanted to adopt her."

"Emily—" he said in a sort of a realization.

She shrugged, cutting him off. "Things didn't work out, for me at least. She had family who wanted to take her in. But I was… disappointed."

He put a comforting hand over hers. "I bet…"

"I don't know what came over me… I guess I just wanted someone else to share my life with," Emily continued. "I guess I was a little lonely and I was convinced this would make it less lonely. Not the best reasons for wanting a child."

"Not the worst either," Derek reassured.

"I know," she nodded. "But now I've got you, so when I think of having kids it's not as urgent as before. You know?"

"I understand," he said, taking her hand he placed a kiss on her palm. "I want to take things slow too."

Emily smiled at Derek. He understood perfectly.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'll try to update soon. There are four more chapters to go, just have to write them up.

Anyways, thanks to all who are reading and those who are reviewing: **ArwenLalaith** _(I've got to listen to these songs, I've never heard of them. But I'll give them a shot)_; **Confetti Leaves** _(yeah I felt it was pretty iffy of me to write the last chapter, but I think it turned out great in the end)_; and **star jelly.**

_Next chapter: Emily misses a case._


	13. Pregnancy

**A/N:** Hey all! This latest chapter is one of my favourite chapters, so I hope you'll enjoy it too. Please R&R! Thanks!

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Criminal Minds.

**Chapter 13: Pregnancy:**

Derek walked into the bullpen wearily. He loved his job, but today was not a day he wanted to work.

"Oh man, hot stuff, you don't look so hot today," was the first greeting he received.

"Thanks Garcia," he said, too tired to instil the sarcasm he had meant to.

She followed him all the way to his desk. "What's up Derek? And where's Emily?"

He let out an exhausted sigh. "She's sitting this one out. She's got this horrible flu. I was up all night with her."

"Aww… my poor babies. Are you sure you aren't catching it too?" she asked him.

"Yeah, I'm just tired," he assured. "Do you know where we're going?"

"Seattle," Garcia informed.

Derek groaned. Half way across the country, as far away from Emily as he could get.

Garcia patted him on the shoulder. "Fear not, I will be over there the minute I'm free and help nurse your fair maiden back into good health."

He smiled. "Thanks Penelope. I really appreciate that. And I know Emily will too."

* * *

"Garcia, I'm fine really," Emily tried to assure the eccentric blonde, as she fussed about her.

A freezing cold compress was suddenly plopped onto her forehead.

"Garcia!"

"Now, now Emily, the team needs you, so you need to get better and fast," Garcia announced. "And I'm the one to help with that."

"But the team needs your help, too," Emily said incredulously.

"Don't worry; I'm all set up here. If they need me I'll be able to help," she assured.

"But I'm feeling better, really," Emily proclaimed.

And she was feeling much better. After spending the entire weekend plus Monday practically bedridden she was starting to feel better that Tuesday afternoon.

She wanted to get up and take a shower, sure that would make her feel even better. But that was going to be difficult since Derek had set her up with her own personal nurse/watchdog.

Emily knew he was feeling guilty for going off to work while she was home sick. But she was going to pay him back for this _kind_ gesture.

"Now, you try to sleep, hun," Garcia continued, completely ignoring her claim. "And Doctor Garcia will be here for whatever you need. Just give me a shout, ok?"

She didn't give Emily a chance to answer, because she was out of the room, turning off the light and shutting the door behind her, a second later.

Emily let out an annoyed groan. Yep, she was definitely paying him back.

* * *

Derek knew he should be focusing completely on the case. But he couldn't, he needed to know how Emily was doing.

He'd managed to get off on his own and now he was in an empty conference room, waiting to hear his girlfriend's voice.

"Hello?"

"Em, hey, you sound much better," he said happily.

"Hey Derek, yeah I've been feeling better since Tuesday," she assured. "But I've been confined to my bed until today, actually."

"How come?" he asked, confused.

"Nurse Garcia," she said dryly. "Now, why did you think that was such a good idea?"

Derek groaned. "I'm sorry Emily. I just felt bad leaving you all alone. How'd you get her to go?"

"I called Kevin and told him to clean up Garcia's apartment and I told him he should let her know that he did," she told him nonchalantly.

"Ouch, you know Garcia's going to kill him," Derek warned, amused.

Garcia was a bit of a neat freak and she didn't like anyone messing with her apartment.

"It was either him or me," Emily defended. "And it wasn't going to be me."

Derek laughed. "I'll make it up to you, I swear."

"You better."

"So you really are feeling better?" Derek questioned.

"Still a little queasy, but other than that all better," she revealed. "I'll probably still go to the doctor. You know, get a check up just in case."

"Yeah," he agreed. "Better safe then sorry."

"How's the case going?" she inquired.

"Not so good. We've got another victim and no potential suspects," he said sadly.

"If you want, you can send me what you've got and I can give it a go," Emily offered.

"_You_," he said pointedly. "Just concentrate on resting. There'll be plenty of other cases."

"Ok," she gave in easily. "Well I should let you go. I'm fine, so don't worry about me. I love you."

"Love you too," he replied, just as the conference room door opened to reveal Rossi.

He shut his phone and looked up at the older man.

"We've got something," Rossi said quickly.

"All right, I'll be right there," Derek assured.

Rossi hesitated. "How is she?"

"Feeling better," Derek answered.

Rossi nodded and left.

Derek let out a sigh. He hoped that whatever they've got would get them home sooner rather than later.

* * *

"I'm so glad you're feeling better," Derek murmured early that morning.

He'd gotten home two days after his phone call to Emily. And to his—and the teams—delight they hadn't been needed on a case yet.

Instead of getting up, though, Derek just pulled her closer to him, placing kisses along her bare shoulder.

Emily laughed. "Me too."

He continued kissing her shoulder until she finally pulled away.

"What?" he protested.

"You know we've got to get ready," she reminded.

"Are you still going to the doctor?" he wondered.

She nodded, grabbing a robe as she got out of bed. "I might feel better, but a check up couldn't hurt anyways."

"Yeah, I guess so," he agreed.

He watched her get dressed and then reluctantly got up himself.

"So are you going to be late for JJ and Hotch's lunch meeting?" he asked.

She turned. "I shouldn't be. But if I am let them know I'll be there for sure."

He nodded again.

Emily set about to putting on her makeup and he watched her, not having much else to do. Eventually, Emily's face set into a worried frown and it had him wondering.

"Emily do you think there's anything wrong?" She gave him a quizzical look and he elaborated. "With your health?"

"Oh," she said surprised. "No, no… it's just that was one strange flu…"

He nodded but he didn't know what she meant exactly, he had been gone on a case for the duration.

"I'm sure its nothing," he tried to reassure.

"Yeah I guess," Emily answered.

They sat in silence until Emily was ready to leave.

"Are you sure you don't want me to go with you?" he asked concernedly.

She smiled sweetly. "I'll be fine," she assured. "But thanks."

Picking up her car keys she was out the door a second later, leaving him alone.

Now what to do until lunch…

* * *

"What?" Emily asked in a daze. _She did not hear what she thought she just heard._

For the first time since meeting her doctor, she looked at the woman wondering if she was truly qualified to be examining people.

Her doctor, Doctor Hope, laughed a little before restating her question, "I asked, Emily, if you've considered the possibility that you might be pregnant?"

Emily shook her head and said once again, "What?"

Doctor Hope—Emily found her name ironic at the moment—put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Emily, the nausea, the being sick one minute and ok the next, they sound like a baby to me. When was your last period?"

_Well that was a silly question, she'd just had it. Hadn't she?_

"Emily?" Doctor Hope prompted.

At trembling hand went up to Emily's mouth as she realized she was more than late. "Awhile ago," she whispered.

_How could she not have noticed?_ She wondered, feeling stupid.

"Emily," her doctor said gently. "Don't beat yourself up about this? You've got a stressful, time consuming job. Sometimes you don't notice these things."

"For three months!" Emily exclaimed, suddenly realizing how long it'd been.

"Listen, let me do a few tests before we get ahead of ourselves," Doctor Hope backtracked. "Can you wait a bit for the results?"

"Yeah," she said quickly, without thinking.

"All right," Doctor Hope said. "I'll go get a nurse so she can draw blood for you. We should have the results in an hour or so. I'll rush it to the lab."

"Thanks," Emily said gratefully.

She was left alone in the office and Emily had time to slow down her racing thoughts. And the one that stood out the most was, 'How am I going to tell Derek?'

* * *

Derek walked into the restaurant and was pointed in the right direction by the maitre de. He saw JJ sitting alone at the table. It looked like he was the first one there. Emily would be happy to know he was on time to something.

The blonde smiled as he approached. "Hey JJ," he greeted leaning down to give her cheek a kiss.

"Hey," JJ replied, her smile widened; no one was immune to Derek Morgan's charm.

"First one here?" he inquired proudly.

"Yeah," she informed. "Everyone should be here soon since you're a little early."

"Early, huh?" Emily would sure be hearing about this.

A waitress approached and he ordered a coffee.

"Five days until the wedding," he said wondrously. "Think you're ready?"

Derek watched her carefully for any signs of nervousness as she answered, "I am so ready. You know, this might make me sound a little old fashioned, but I've been waiting for this my whole life."

He knew most women dreamed of their wedding day and he wondered if Emily did as well.

"Nah, there's nothing wrong with wanting to be married. I'll only be worried if you tell me you're going to quit your job to become a housewife, because you are the best at what you do."

They couldn't afford to lose JJ, but he knew that wasn't possible, she loved her job too much.

"Don't worry about that," JJ assured. "Aaron knows he's getting a very un-domestic wife in this package deal."

"I think Hotch would take you anyway you want. Guy's been in love with you since the minute he met you," Derek informed just in case she hadn't realized it yet.

He watched JJ blush as she quickly brushed off the statement, "I don't know about that… So, are you ready?"

"For marriage?" he said in surprise. "Oh man, JJ… I don't know about that, I mean me and Emily are just starting to get back to normal."

Marriage? He'd had time to think about all kinds of things with Emily, even kids. But for some reason marriage hadn't crossed his mind, until now. And he wondered why?

"Yeah, what was that all about anyway?" JJ wanted to know. "Was there even an actual other guy?"

Derek let out a sigh. Oh, there was an actual guy, but not until he had pushed her away. So he simply said, "Not on her part."

He could tell JJ wanted to know more, but speak of the devil, Rossi decided to arrive.

Rossi stepped up to the table. "Am I late?"

"Hey Dave," JJ greeted. "Not at all. We're still waiting for everyone else, have a seat."

Derek gave Rossi a nod that he returned curtly.

Derek hadn't really been in a situation lately where he had to make small talk with Rossi, hence the not talking at the moment. An awkwardness was settling over the table.

"Still, Derek," JJ interrupted the quietness. "You thought of Emily the instant I mentioned marriage. That must mean things are better than normal."

Derek was grateful to JJ for breaking the silence, until he heard her topic of choice. He did not want to talk about this around Rossi.

"Things are great," he said simply.

"Wait a second, you're asking Emily to marry you?" Rossi said incredulously.

Derek was about to chew Rossi out before JJ quickly cut in.

"Sorry Dave, I was just wondering out loud. You know, just asking if Morgan would be ready for marriage anytime soon."

"I see," Rossi said simply.

But to Derek those two simple words were saying a lot more, like _'I see, you're still incapable of committing,_' or _'I see, I knew you didn't have the guts to ask her.'_

Those two simple words were more hurtful than if he'd actually elaborated. And he felt bad for JJ when things went silent and uncomfortable again.

He was very relieved when he saw Reid and Layla heading towards them. At the same moment his phone buzzed with a text and he quickly checked it.

**Going 2 be a bit l8. Sorry.**

**-Emily**

Derek settled back into his chair, relieved that he at least had Reid and Layla there. More people to buffer against Rossi.

* * *

Emily sat on the edge of her seat when Doctor Hope re-entered the office. After having an hour to think about how she would feel if she really was pregnant she still had no idea what to feel. She didn't know what to feel because she didn't know how Derek would feel.

Oh she knew he wanted kids, so did she, but they both agreed on someday, not today.

"So, Emily," Doctor Hope announced somewhat dramatically. "It's official."

"Official?" Emily answered tentatively.

Doctor Hope sat in her chair and leaned across the desk towards Emily. "You're pregnant, almost 3 months along."

Emily's world was suddenly spinning. _What the heck was she going to do?_

"What are you planning on doing?" Doctor Hope echoed her thoughts.

Emily looked at the woman incredulously. "I have no idea."

"Are you going to tell the father?"

Emily nodded absently. Sure she would tell Derek… eventually.

"Emily do you need to talk about this?" Doctor Hope offered kindly.

She realized she'd fallen into a daze and she shook her head to come out of it. "No it's ok, I'll be fine."

"Ok then," Doctor Hope picked up a package and reached it across the desk. "This is some information that you need to know. I've included the names of the best obstetricians. But if you'd like I can get you set up with Doctor Chang here at the hospital?"

"Please," Emily said meekly.

"All right Emily," Doctor Hope finished. "If you have any other questions do not hesitate to call."

Emily nodded and stood up, going for the door. Doctor Hope's hand on her shoulder stopped her. Emily turned to face the red-headed woman, only slightly older then her. She was smiling kindly.

"Don't worry Emily, you can do this."

"Thanks."

* * *

Derek unlocked the door and pushed it open for Emily to walk through. He watched, slightly disturbed, as Emily went straight for the couch letting herself fall back across it.

"Emily?" Derek questioned.

"Yeah," she answered as if nothing appeared to be wrong.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

"Yeah."

Ok, she wasn't sounding ok. He came around the couch to sit on the coffee tale to get closer to her She turned her head to look at him with such a blank look on her face, it gave him the shivers.

"Em, what's up? I thought you said the doctor said everything's all right. Were you lying to me, are you… are you sick?" he asked, letting his fear guide his questions.

As if realizing what her body language was conveying, she sat up abruptly and took hold of both his hands. "I'm fine, I'm…. not sick. I'm so sorry; I didn't mean to worry you."

He nodded, letting out a sigh of relief. Then he frowned. "But what's up with all this." He waved a hand over her, hoping she'd get his meaning.

"I'm just feeling… the after effects of the flu. Doctor said I should be feeling better soon," Emily assured.

"Ok," he took it in, allowing himself to be satisfied with her answers. "Scoot over, so I can sit next to you."

She did as told and he took a seat next to her and then brought her into the circle of his arms. They sat like that, just holding each other for a good twenty minutes, until Emily broke the silence.

"Derek will you love me always?" she asked suddenly.

He gave her a quizzical look, unsure of what to make of her question. "Of course Em, I'll love you forever."

She nodded her head, gave his cheek a kiss and then answered, "I love you too, always."

He figured he'd answered right when he saw the glowing smile on her face. And he found himself happy once again that they were able to make their way back to each other.

* * *

"It's like you were meant to be a bride, JJ," Emily said in awe of her friend in a gorgeous white gown.

It was only a few days away from the wedding and JJ had hijacked her and her other 2 ladies in waiting, Garcia and Layla, into one final fitting. But she was glad for the distraction.

All she could think about was that she was pregnant. And she still didn't know how she felt about that. She didn't want to let herself feel yet. Since she still hadn't told Derek.

"Thanks guys," JJ said smiling, her eyes shining. "Now hurry up and try your dresses on, I want to see how you all look."

Emily groaned, just because. But really she was eager to try on the royal purple concoction she'd had a hand in creating.

The store owner handed each one their dresses and directed each into a small dressing room.

Emily immediately hung the dress up on the lone hook. She threw her bag on the floor, along with her jacket. And then she started to strip, starting with her top, she pulled it off and added it to the pile. She was ready to go for the button on her jeans when she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror.

"No," she murmured to herself.

It couldn't be, she was only three months along. No it must be her jeans were so tight they were pushing her belly fat up over the band.

At least that's what she told herself. But as she went to take off her pants, she noticed the bump wasn't falling back into place.

She stood to the side, clad only in her black underwear and looked at the obvious baby bump. Gingerly, as if fearing she might hurt the baby inside, she put her hands over her belly. And suddenly she realized she was an idiot. _How could she not notice this before?_

"Emily you ok in there?" JJ's voice called, reminding her why she was in there in the first place.

"Yeah," she called back. She quickly pulled the dress off the hanger and unzipped it. Briefly, she thought to herself that she was glad this was the final fitting and not the first. Because she would not fit into it in the future, that was for sure.

But with a sigh of relief the dress slid up and zipped easily. It's like when creating the design for the dress she'd had the foresight to make sure it was pregnancy ready.

The dress was strapless and had an empire waist, which meant the fabric cinched under her chest—soon to be the smallest part of her torso—and flowed down over her body. Essentially hiding any bump-age.

She'd have to stick to clothes like this, at least until she told Derek, which she told herself she would right after the wedding. She didn't want to steal JJ's thunder.

"Emily come on, get out here," JJ demanded.

Emily let out a sigh, now acutely self conscious; she hadn't even allowed herself to acknowledge that she looked beautiful.

She came out to find Layla and Garcia already situated in their own knee length gowns. All were waiting on her. So she stepped out to the squeals of delight of her friends and took her position between the two shorter women.

"You all look beautiful," JJ gushed.

And Emily didn't know what did it, but suddenly she was letting the waterworks fall. She turned around quickly not wanting to let her friends see, but it was too late.

"Em, hun, what's wrong?" Garcia asked worriedly.

She waved her hands at them, trying to wave away their concern but that obviously didn't work.

The store owner suddenly appeared, seeing Emily crying. She looked positively horrified. "No, no," she said sternly in her accented voice. "No crying in dress. You change, now."

Strangely Emily was grateful for this woman forcefully pushing her back into the dressing room, ordering her to change. It gave her time to compose herself.

First she pulled a tissue out of her purse, cleaned up her face and then changed. Taking a deep breath before exiting the room, she found them all sitting, changed too, looking concerned.

And that's when the whole story gushed out. Well the whole pregnancy story that is.

Garcia hugged her close once she was done. "Aww Emily, you can tell him. Derek's one of the good guys."

She pulled away and frowned. "I know that."

"Then what is it Emily?" Layla asked gently, afraid she was overstepping her boundaries.

"I… I don't know. I know he wants kids… but he, _we_, hadn't expected it'd be so soon," she admitted.

"You don't want this now?" JJ questioned.

Emily shrugged.

"I think I know what's got you so upset. You're so scared of what everyone else will think you haven't given this baby much thought and you don't know what to think," Garcia said logically.

Emily nodded.

"So… how do you feel about this baby, good, bad, in between?" JJ inquired.

"G…good," Emily stuttered, but meant it.

"That's a start," Layla affirmed.

"And do you want this baby?" Garcia wanted to know.

"Yes," she said more firmly.

"And," JJ started slowly. "Do you love this baby?"

Her answer came out in a breathy whisper of realization. "Very much."

* * *

Well that's it for now. See, they're together again, but they're still not free of my drama queen-ness. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I really enjoyed writing this one.

Anyways leave me a review and let me know what you think. I think there are 3 more chapters until the end.

Thanks to anyone who's reading. And thanks to my one reviewer: **ArwenLalaith** _( No way! To me that practically means your royalty. Lol. Did you ever get a tour of like the inside or anything? I'm a big time Flames fan too. In fact, I'm about to head out to watch the game tonight, Flamse vs. Canucks)._

Next Chapter: JJ and Hotch's wedding, and Emily reveals the pregnancy to Derek.


	14. Happy and Scared

**A/N:** Hey all! Here's the third from last instalment. Hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think with a review!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Criminal Minds.

**Chapter 14: Happy and Scared:**

Derek walked down the street quickly and with a purpose. He'd been charged with the task of getting the tuxes for Hotch's wedding tomorrow, so he was headed for the shop.

He was so happy for Hotch and JJ. After all that had happened to them they both deserved this. They deserved a happy life together, married.

He'd like that for himself, he realized.

And why not, he and Emily were going strong, and he knew there could be no one else in his future, but her. He knew he had told JJ otherwise, the other day, but he thought that they'd moved past the break-up enough to at least start considering the idea. Honestly, they were considering kids, so why not marriage.

With that last thought he looked about him and realized where he was: right in front of a jewellery store.

* * *

"So, have you told him yet?" JJ wanted to know, as they got ready for the rehearsal dinner.

Emily shook her head.

"Why not?" Garcia protested.

She gave Garcia an incredulous look. "Because I will not do that to JJ. This is her day, her week, ok?"

"I won't mind," JJ assured. "I think you and Morgan having a baby together is the best thing that could ever happen… well after my wedding to Hotch of course."

They shared a little laugh.

"Can you guys imagine how beautiful this baby is going to be?" Layla added.

Both Garcia and JJ nodded appreciatively.

"Thanks guys," Emily said genuinely.

"So, do you think you and Derek will be getting married soon?" Layla asked innocently.

"Uh… I'm not sure," Emily said truthfully. "I guess we haven't really talked about it."

"Oh come on Em," Garcia scoffed. "I heard wedding bells the minute I found out about your baby."

"What… what do you mean?" Emily asked naively.

"I think she means that the minute you tell Derek about the baby you're going to have a ring on your finger so fast you won't know what hit you," JJ elaborated.

"Oh…" Emily said breathlessly.

She didn't know how she felt about this new revelation. She had just figured out that she was completely in love with the idea of having Derek's baby and in love with the baby itself. But she'd never considered the baby being the reason why she and Derek would eventually marry.

"You do want to marry Derek someday, right Emily?" Layla asked tentatively.

"Mm hmm," she murmured.

Emily looked up when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Emily what is it?" JJ asked.

"I don't want him to ask me just because of the baby," she revealed.

"It won't be just cause of the baby," Garcia assured. "That man loves you completely."

"Still…"

"Still, you're worried that he'd be asking just because of some archaic sense of honour," JJ finished. "I thought the same thing after Will asked me to marry him."

"But eventually you said yes," Emily stated.

"Yeah, took me awhile," JJ said sadly. "But I realized that he was asking me because he loved me and wanted to spend…"

JJ trailed off, tearing up.

"Oh no," Layla exclaimed. "No crying on the day before your wedding."

JJ laughed wiping at her eyes. "I know, I'm silly… Will would want me to be happy today…"

Everyone nodded.

"All right, I'm sorry I'm such a downer," Emily said quickly. "Let's change the subject."

"Ok," Garcia said mischievously. "So, JJ, you ready for your wedding night?"

* * *

Derek stood up in front of a hundred or so people, having been asked to pull double duty as groomsmen and MC for Hotch and JJ's wedding.

He was glad his duty was pretty much complete, just one last task.

"And now I'd like to welcome our happy couple to the dance floor," he paused as the first bars of Far Away, by Nickelback began to play. "Hotch, JJ, it's time for your first dance."

They smiled at him as they stood up and made their way onto the spot lit dance floor.

He stood there for a minute, at the podium, watching the couple dance. It was a beautiful wedding and he was glad he was a part of their special day. He hoped his friends would return the favour. Maybe soon.

The ring he'd bought yesterday was weighing heavily in his inner jacket pocket.

Derek made his way to sit next to his girlfriend. She continued to watch the dance floor, but her hand found his and she squeezed it affectionately. In response he leaned across and kissed her cheek.

"I love you," he whispered into her ear, before watching the floor contently.

* * *

Soon after the newly married couple had finished their first dance everyone else was invited onto the floor. And that's where Derek and Emily were at the moment.

Derek held Emily in his arms as they swayed to the slow notes of the music. The night was going very good. He was so happy for JJ and Hotch. And their happiness was rubbing off on him.

He pulled back so he could look into Emily's eyes. She gave him a strange look. He knew he was grinning like a fool, but he couldn't help it. Soon Emily was smiling back at him.

"What are you grinning at?" she asked.

"You," he said out right. "You're beautiful, you know."

She blushed in response and he loved that he still had that affect on her.

She hugged him tight and murmured into his shoulder, "You're the best. I love you…"

He smiled kissing the top of her head.

"Derek…"

"Mmm…"

"You'll love me no matter what, right?" she suddenly asked that disturbing question once again. Her voice was trembling.

He pulled back, unsure of why she still sounded so scared. And when he did take a glance he was shocked to see she actually did look terrified.

"Em… of course…" he said urgently. "Of…"

He trailed off, because he suddenly knew what he had to do to prove to her that he'd love her forever.

Right then and there in the middle of the dance floor he bent down, got on one knee and reached into his tux jacket pocket.

"Derek…" Emily said her voice trembling more than ever now.

"Emily, I love you. I know I've been a stupid, jealous fool, but I was an idiot. I will love you forever. And I'd like to become your husband and show you for the rest of our lives," he paused, waiting for a response, but Emily just stood there frozen. "Emily, will you marry me?"

Emily continued to stare at him and suddenly he felt scared too. Scared, that she was going to turn him down. But she did something worse, she started to tear up. And they didn't look to be tears of joy.

"Em—" but he was cut off when she started to run off the floor.

He stood shocked for a second before he started to follow her. He had no idea what he'd said wrong, but he'd find out.

"Derek," Garcia said stepping into his way.

"Sorry Penelope, I've got to run," he said briskly.

"Wait, what did you say to Emily?" she asked outright.

"Nothing," he said, not having time for this. But the look on her face told him he wasn't going anywhere yet. "Ok, I asked her to marry me."

"Oh man," she groaned.

"What?" he said defensively.

"Did she tell you anything um… big?" Garcia asked vaguely.

"No," he replied and then looked at her suspiciously. "Should she have?"

Garcia put a hand on his shoulder. "Derek, wait here, let me talk to her first, ok?"

"Do you know what this is about?" Derek asked disbelievingly.

"I think so," Garcia said truthfully. "But just let me talk to her, ok."

He didn't like this, but he didn't know what else he could do.

"Ok."

* * *

Emily felt like an idiot. She was in a bathroom stall, sitting on the toilet seat, mopping up her face from the tears that refused to stop flowing. This was so not the way to act after getting proposed to. She wanted to stop, but couldn't.

_Stupid pregnancy hormones._

"Em, hun, is that you?" Garcia's voice rang out.

She knew she should have locked the outer door.

"Emily, are you ok?" JJ's voice sounded.

_Aww man_, now she was ruining her best friends wedding.

She opened the stall door and came out reluctantly.

"I'm ok guys," she managed to say through tears.

They gave her an incredulous look.

"I freaked out, that's all," Emily tried to placate them, really all she wanted was to get back to her tears, alone.

"Emily… he asked you to marry you," Garcia said in awe.

"I know," she replied grudgingly.

"Emily, this is a good thing," JJ said sincerely, but Emily could tell her friend was amused.

"This isn't funny," Emily protested.

Garcia shook her head. "No, it's not it's… romantic."

"Garcia," Emily warned.

Yes it was romantic. Yes she wanted to marry Derek. But she didn't want it to be for the wrong reasons.

"Emily, Layla's outside the door holding Derek back," JJ started.

"But we're going to let him in, ok," Garcia finished. "You two need to talk. You need to tell him about this baby ok?"

Emily panicked and grabbed hold of each of her friend's wrists. "No, don't leave me."

"I'm sorry Em, I've got a husband I've got to get back to," JJ said, not hiding her amusement anymore. "And you have a boyfriend who's very scared right now."

They pried their wrists away and stood up to go.

Emily looked at them longingly as they disappeared behind the door.

A second later the door swung open again and it was Derek. He winced when he saw her and she realized why when she glanced in the mirror. She looked horrified.

"Emily," he whispered and then quickly came to sit next to her. "Whatever I said to… whatever I did… I'm sorry. I don't want to lose you."

She realized her rush to the bathroom had caused him to think she didn't want him anymore.

"Derek no," she said putting her fingers to his lips to shush him. "I'm sorry… you didn't do anything wrong."

He looked visibly confused. "Then… then what is it?"

She let out a loud sigh. "Remember the doctor's appointment—"

He cut her off. "But you said everything was ok… you told me nothing was wrong—"

"Nothing is _wrong_," she quickly interrupted.

"Emily, you've got to give me some answers before I have a heart attack. Because you've got me so nervous—" he was visibly shaking.

"Derek, nothings wrong," she said again. "The flu I've been having wasn't a flu."

"What was it?"

"Morning sickness," she said simply.

His face still confused, he repeated, "Morning sickness?"

She just nodded, waiting for him to put two and two together. When his face lit up, she knew he figured it out.

"Morning sickness? Emily, are we… are we going to have a baby?"

She nodded again; bracing herself for… well she didn't exactly know what she was waiting for.

"Oh my God…" he breathed out. "I'm going to be a father."

Emily tired to read that statement. Was him going to be a father a good thing or a bad thing?

"Derek, I know we said we didn't want kids till later, but… it happened," Emily explained; she wasn't sure if she should apologize. It felt kind of like she should. But then again a baby wasn't really something she wanted to feel regret over.

Derek met her eyes. "What are you talking about?" he chided. "This is the greatest thing that could ever happen!"

"It is?" she asked, thoroughly confused.

"Emily," he said, and she could detect a hint of laughter in his voice. "What could be more perfect than you and me having a baby together?"

She opened her mouth to respond, but it just flopped open like a dead fish's. She had no words. But that was ok, because he continued.

"I hope it's a boy! No a girl!" he exclaimed. "No, I don't care! I'd love either. Hey, maybe we'll have twins. A boy and a girl!"

Emily looked on in disbelief. Derek Morgan was beaming, actually beaming.

"You're… you're happy?" she asked tentatively.

He frowned. "Why wouldn't I be?" His smile slowly returned, he seemingly couldn't be without it.

She let out a breath that she hadn't known she'd been holding. "I'm so glad you're ok with this…"

He took hold of her hands and made her meet his eyes. "Of course I'm ok with this. Better than ok. You thought I wouldn't be?"

"I didn't know what to think. I was scared," Emily admitted. "I mean I just figured out that I loved the baby. And it took me a few days—"

"A few days? Emily you should have told me right away," Derek scolded.

"Derek I was _scared_," she emphasized.

He nodded. "Ok, I get it. But for the record I am totally in love with this baby."

For emphasis he put his hand on her belly. A surprised look came over his face. "How far along are you anyways?"

She smiled finally. "Three months."

"Three months…" he trailed off thinking. "Must have happened that night we first got back together."

"Or in Hawaii," she added.

"Or in Hawaii," he agreed. "So…"

"So what?" she asked suspiciously.

"You haven't answered my question yet," Derek elaborated.

She looked at him like he was crazy. "Seriously Derek?"

"Yes seriously. I'd like you to be my wife," he said, frowning again. "Is that such a crazy idea?"

"No it's not," she conceded. "But just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean you've got to ask me to marry you. I mean, we don't live in the 1800's or anything. I'm perfectly fine with having your baby without being married to you. I'm not ashamed or anything—"

"Emily, Emily," Derek cut her off. "I asked you to marry me before I found out about the baby."

"_Oh_," she said. "Oh… right."

"But if you don't want to marry me then… I understand," he continued. "I mean… I'll love you either way. But… I just thought…"

What was she doing? He wanted to marry her, not just because of the baby, but because he truly wanted to. She was an idiot.

_Hurry up and say something_, her brain was screaming at her.

"Ask me again," she whispered almost inaudibly.

"What?"

"Ask me again!" she said more forcefully.

She watched him take the ring out of his jacket pocket. Slowly, he opened it to reveal the sparkling diamond. She looked up to meet his eyes. He was watching her with such intensity. Her eyes were so focused on his she almost missed the question.

"Emily," he began without ceremony, "will you marry me?"

She nodded her head, smiling widely. She was sure she looked like a frantic, eager freak. "Yes Derek! Yes I'll marry you."

Laughing wildly, she threw herself into his arms. And he held her tight not letting go.

* * *

Well that's it for now. I've got one more chapter left and then the epilogue. I hope you've enjoyed this chapter. I'll try to have the next two up quick.

Thanks to those who've been reading and those who have reviewed: **Sophie; kdzl; **and **ArwenLalaith.**

See you soon!


	15. Babies

**A/N:** Hey all! I was so happy with how this chapter turned out. I hope you enjoy it too. Please R&R! Thanks!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Criminal Minds.

**Chapter 15: Babies:**

"Twins," Emily murmured in disbelief, as she stood in the doorway of her apartment's spare bedroom. Scratch that, now their babies' bedroom.

Derek looked up from where he was rolling a brush in bright yellow paint.

"Emily, seriously? You still can't believe it? It's been months since we've known."

"Yeah, but… twins? Wow!" she said breathlessly. She still hadn't gotten used to the idea. "We're going to have to move someday."

"What?" he asked, looking at her confused.

"This place is big enough for three of us, but now that there'll be four… well the kids will want their own rooms someday. Especially if they're a boy and a girl."

They still didn't know the sex of their babies. They wanted to be surprised. That's why they were painting the room yellow.

Derek stood up and approached her. "The kids will be fine for a few years sharing. We don't want to spoil them you know."

"Yes, but I still want them to feel loved," Emily stated emotionally.

"Trust me, these babies will feel nothing but love," Derek assured. "And they'll have plenty of other people to spoil them. Garcia's filled her office with nothing but presents she plans on giving them when they're born. My mom's planning on bringing four suitcases full of stuff when she comes to stay. And only one is for her."

Emily nodded. "I just love them all…"

Derek chuckled. He kissed her forehead. "Now, you go get some rest. If you keep disturbing me this room will never be done before the babies come."

She smiled. "It better be."

She turned to go and was suddenly struck by sparkles of light in her line of sight. The pin pricks of light dominated what she was seeing.

"Emily, are you ok?" Derek asked concerned.

"Umm… yeah," she said, trying to blink away the sparkles in her eyes. "I just… there's these sparkles of light that I keep seeing. It's probably nothing…"

Derek put his brush down. "Still I'd like to be sure. Come on, you sit down. I'll call the doctor."

She nodded her head. She felt scared; she didn't want anything to go wrong. Her world would surely crash.

* * *

"Preeclampsia," Doctor Hope confirmed.

"Pre-what?" Derek answered.

After calling Dr. Chang, Emily's obstetrician, and getting no one, they had tried Emily's physician instead. She had urged them to come in right away for tests. And after taking those test they got…

"_Preeclampsia_, it's a condition that sometimes develops in first time mothers. And it's much more common in multi-fetal pregnancies," Doctor Hope explained.

"Is it… is it bad?" Emily asked trembling.

Doctor Hope sighed. "Well… it could be. But we've caught it early. Now it's just a matter of monitoring you and putting you on bed rest for the rest of your pregnancy."

Derek let out a sigh of relief, thankful that he had insisted on coming in right away.

"Bed rest?" Emily said in aghast. "Like no exercise or something?"

"No," Doctor Hope denied. "Like no getting out of bed unless you've got to use the bathroom."

"What?"

"Emily, calm down, you're eight months along it won't be much longer," Derek tried to calm her.

"Yes, Emily listen to Derek. Another symptom of preeclampsia is hypertension and you're blood pressure is already pretty high. I'm going to prescribe an antihypertensive medication. And we've got to keep an open mind to inducing labour or a caesarean section."

"Inducing labour? Caesarean?" Derek said in disbelief.

"Yes. There's a risk that the placenta isn't delivering enough nutrients. If we see that they'll be better off outside we'll take that chance," Doctor Hope explained.

"This is… This is…" Emily began.

"Overwhelming," Doctor Hope finished. "I know. But it's essential that we do what I say. All right?"

"Of course," Derek was quick to agree. "We'll do anything for these babies."

"Good,' Doctor Hope finished. "Now about diet…"

* * *

"I can't believe this," Emily moaned for the hundredth time.

She was propped up on her bed, confined to the bed the second they'd gotten home from the hospital a few days ago.

"I know Em, I know," Derek answered for the hundredth time. He was sitting dutifully at her side, ready to do her bidding.

"I mean, it's not fair. When JJ was pregnant the first time she was at work till the last second. _I_ get to be confined to this prison. It's not fair."

She knew she was whining, but she didn't care. As far as she was concerned she was fully allowed to be whinny and obnoxious.

"Emily you're having twins, she didn't," Derek reminded.

"And she isn't now," she pouted. "It's not fair."

"But think of it this way, JJ has to go through labour twice to get her second baby. You only have to do it once."

She considered this and it made her smile. Derek was totally right.

"Take that JJ," she said jokingly.

Derek laughed.

"You're mom should be here any minute," Emily commented. "How does the place look? I don't want her to think we're slobs."

"I think she'll understand," Derek assured.

His mom was coming to stay with them this last month of Emily's pregnancy and the first few months after, as well. They had put a cot in the babies' room for her to stay in. Once again she was reminded that they needed a bigger place.

Speaking of bigger places.

"Aren't you supposed to be at JJ and Hotch's housewarming party?" she asked.

"Yeah, but I don't want to leave you alone," Derek said tentatively.

"Ugh!" she said disgustedly. "Just because I'm stuck here doesn't mean you have to be too. Go, have fun. Let me be miserable by myself."

"Emily you're blood pressure," he warned her.

She took in a deep breath, calming herself.

_In and out._

"You're right, sorry. But, go, have fun. Say hi to _non-confined-to-her-bed-JJ for me._ Ok."

"Ok," he agreed, amused. "But I'm not going till my mom gets here."

Just then their doorbell rang.

"That must be her…" Emily said quickly. "Go get it."

* * *

"I'm sorry Garcia," Derek apologized again. "She's not herself. She didn't mean what she said."

"Derek, hun, I understand. Too much hormones and stuff," Garcia brushed it off.

It hadn't been his mom after all. Garcia had stopped by to check on Emily. It was going fine until Garcia pulled out JJ and Hotch's housewarming present and then Emily flipped out.

Ok, maybe flipped out was harsh, but she definitely gave it to Garcia. Complaining that it wasn't fair she was in bed and taking out all her frustrations on poor, unsuspecting Penelope.

"I'll make it up to you, I swear," Derek assured.

Garcia gave him hug. "I'm good. I know it's hard for her. She's just angry right now."

"Yeah, big time," Derek said incredulously. "She has to keep calm."

"She'll be fine. She knows that too," Garcia assured. "In the meantime, maybe I'll just give her some space…"

Derek smiled. "Yeah ok."

"I'll see you at JJ's?"

"Yep, as soon as my mom gets here," he replied.

She gave his cheek a kiss and left.

Derek took in a deep breath and went inside. He found Emily where he had left her, tears streaming down her face.

"Did you tell her I'm sorry?" Emily questioned.

"Yeah I did," he told her.

"I don't know what came over me…"

"It's all good Emily. She understood," Derek added. He grabbed some tissues and helped her dry her tears.

Sitting back, he sighed. "Maybe I should stay."

"No, no, go. I want you to have fun," Emily said rationally. "And I swear I won't be mean to your mom. I love her."

He hesitated. She loved Garcia, too. "Ok…"

* * *

Derek stood on the doorstep of the massive house JJ and Hotch had recently bought.

The couple were about to have their first baby together, though JJ was a few months behind Emily. But JJ's house wouldn't cut it anymore, now that they'd essentially have 3 kids.

As Derek waited for them to open the door he could hear sounds of the party going on in the back. It also happened to be the 4th of July.

The door opened to reveal a very pregnant JJ.

"Derek, hey, glad you could make it," she said genuinely.

"Wouldn't miss it," he told her, giving her cheek a kiss. "How are you? How are you feeling?"

"Fine on both accounts," JJ answered, a hand going to her belly. "I just can't believe I'm having a baby already."

"It happens…" he said laughing.

JJ suddenly looked concerned. "Speaking of babies… how's Emily?"

Derek frowned. "Pissed off as hell. She really wanted to be here."

"Aww… she does realize she's close to nine months along," JJ said sympathetically.

He nodded. "Well, she doesn't get why she has to be put on bed rest."

"Yeah, it's hard. I'll go see her tomorrow, try to cheer her up a bit," JJ decided.

Derek winced, remembering the Garcia encounter. "I don't know; Penelope tried that already. Nearly got her head bit off."

"Maybe she resents non-pregnant people. I can sympathize with her," JJ assured.

"Maybe," he said unsurely, remembering Emily's rant about JJ being not committed to bed.

"Anyways, the party's in the back. Feel free to go join in."

"All right, see you later."

* * *

"Can I get you anything else?"

Emily smiled. "No thanks, Mrs. Morgan, I'm all right."

Derek's mom stepped around the bed and patted her shoulder affectionately. "You'll be fine dear," she stated more to herself than to Emily. Then she stepped away making her way to the door.

Emily stopped her. "You really think so?"

Mrs. Morgan turned back around giving her a reassuring smile. "Yes, I think so."

Emily looked away, fidgeting. "Because sometimes I get scared. I'm scared I'll be a bad mother. Or worse, I'll turn into my mother."

She came to sit on the bed next to her. "Emily dear, I understand you're scared, all first time mothers are. But that doesn't mean you're going to be a bad mother."

"But I don't know the first thing about changing diapers or making bottles. I don't know anything," Emily said nervously.

Mrs. Morgan shook her head. "Emily that's what you have Derek for. That's why I'm here. And I'm sure all your friends will be there for you too. Honey, stop worrying and start embracing the idea that you're going to be a great mother."

Emily laughed. "All right, all right," she gave in. "I'm going to be a great mother."

"Good," Mrs. Morgan said happily. "Now what have you two decided about the wedding?"

"Well, we're going to wait a few months after the babies are born…" Emily started, happy for the change of subject.

* * *

"Hey Hotch, Reid," Derek greeted. "Rossi."

Derek found the guys huddled together next to the barbecue. There were plenty of other people too, but they chose to be off to the side.

"Derek, how's Emily doing?" Reid asked quickly.

"She's ok, pissed off, but ok," Derek answered.

"How come?" Rossi asked nonchalantly.

"She's been put on bed rest," Hotch answered for him.

Rossi turned to him looking concerned. "The babies are ok, aren't they?"

Derek nodded. "They will be now. As long as Emily stays in bed and doesn't get stressed, they'll all be fine."

"Good to know," Rossi said simply.

Ever since Emily and he had announced to the team that they were having a baby and getting married Rossi had been strangely indifferent to their situation. Whereas before the man may have gone out of his way to interact with Emily, he was now keeping his distance. Derek believed it was because the man finally accepted the fact that Emily would never be his.

Derek had to admit it was making working with Rossi these days much easier. And he was even beginning to re-tolerate the guy.

The pregnancy wasn't only good for him and Emily, but for the whole team.

* * *

Emily was still lying in bed—where else could she go—when she heard the doorbell ring. She wasn't expecting anyone and she thought it was just a salesman. So, she was very surprised when Mrs. Morgan opened the door and poked her head in.

"Emily, honey, you've got a visitor," Mrs. Morgan said. "But if you're too tired I can send them away."

Emily wondered why Derek's mom suddenly sounded so tense.

"Umm… it's all right, I wouldn't mind a visitor," Emily allowed, feeling very calm at the moment.

"All right…" she replied, strained.

Mrs. Morgan stepped back out leaving the door partially open. Emily could hear her talking to someone.

"She's not supposed to get stressed, so please don't agitate her," Mrs. Morgan warned.

When the door opened all the way and Dave stood in the doorway, Emily understood why she was warning him. Mrs. Morgan totally knew about their history.

Mrs. Morgan didn't have to worry; Dave stressed Derek out more than her. No, Emily was actually glad to see him. He'd been keeping his distance and Emily found she was missing his friendship.

"Dave, hi," she gushed. "Come in, come in."

She smiled and then he smiled and she could see him visibly relax. Looks like he had been apprehensive about visiting.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" he asked.

"I feel fine actually," she said truthfully. "So, you heard about the whole bed rest thing, I see."

"Yeah, I was just at the housewarming party, Derek told me," Dave informed. "I thought this would be a good time to visit."

She understood. "You know you're welcome anytime. I think we've all moved on now…"

He nodded. "I know, I just thought it would be easier this way."

"Ok, so I'm glad you came," she told him. "I've missed talking to you. What have you been up to?"

"You're the one who should go first. What's this bed rest all about?" he wanted to know.

She let out a sigh. "Preeclampsia. Apparently, it's more frequent in first time moms like me, and multiple baby pregnancies, like mine."

"You hit the jackpot on this one," he joked.

She smiled. "I hate staying in bed all day. But I'll do it for the babies' sake."

"Can I just say that I'm still in awe of all this," Dave relayed, waving a hand over her.

"It did all happen kind of fast," she agreed.

"But it's a good kind of fast," he let her know. "I am so happy for you and Derek. I hope you know that."

"Thank you Dave," Emily said genuinely. "That means a lot."

They went silent for a second.

"So I'm guessing I blew any chance of either one of these kids being named after me," Dave joked.

She laughed heartily at that.

"What? David is a nice, wholesome name," Dave mock pouted.

"Sorry Dave," she said, still giggling. "We don't even know if we're having boys."

"I was just kidding," he assured. He smiled and then made his way to the door. "I should probably go, let you get some rest."

"Wait, you haven't told me anything about what's happening with you," Emily protested.

"Later, if I stay any longer I'm pretty sure Derek's mother is going to come pull me by the ear," Dave kidded.

She laughed again. "Fine, but visit soon."

"I will," he assured and then he was gone.

After a few minutes of silence Mrs. Morgan stepped into the room again. She looked surprised, probably because of the smile on her face.

"Everything all right?" she asked tentatively.

"Yeah great," Emily assured.

"Ok," Mrs. Morgan said, still hesitating.

"Mrs. Morgan," she said quietly. "He's just my friend."

Her soon to be mother-in-law nodded and left.

* * *

Derek had a good time that night. But he was glad to come home to his family.

"Hi mom," Derek greeted, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Everything been good while I was gone?"

"Fine, just fine," his mother said shortly, as she moved around the kitchen.

He watched her tenseness, and knew something was up.

"Mom," he said. "Stop, look at me."

She did, but didn't look happy about listening.

"What's up?"

"Nothing, nothing," she brushed it off. "Go visit your fiancée."

He didn't know what was up with his mother but he listened to her.

Derek opened their bedroom door to see Emily reading a book. She put it down when she noticed him. Immediately, he approached her giving her a kiss.

"Hey babe, how're you feeling?" he greeted.

"I think I scared your mom," she said instead.

Derek let out a sigh. He braced himself for a tale of hormones gone wild like the Garcia incident. "What happened?"

"Dave came to visit," she told him.

Huh. He'd wondered where he had disappeared to for that hour or so.

"So what happened?"

"I think your mom expected me to throw him out, you know because of what happened. But I didn't," she explained. "I think she was horrified that I was actually happy to see him."

Derek had come to terms with that whole situation awhile ago. He understood that Emily still wanted to be friends with the guy.

"So, did you tell her he's your friend?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said quickly. "I think she thinks I still have something going on with him. You've got to explain it to her. I don't want her to think I'm like that."

Derek smiled. "I'm sure she doesn't think anything bad about you," he assured. He leaned down and gave her forehead a kiss. "You're perfect."

"Please Derek. Can you still talk to her," she pleaded.

He nodded. "I will," he assured. "So, did Dave have anything interesting to say?"

Emily grinned suddenly. "He suggested we name one of the babies after him."

_Ha, ha_, he thought. _So not funny_.

* * *

Well that's it. I couldn't stop myself from adding one last bit of drama. All the information about the Preeclampsia I got off the web, so I've got no personal experience with it. Forgive me if there's anything off about it. But, I do hope you all still enjoyed this chapter.

All that's left is the epilogue, which will probably be more like one last chapter. And I'll try to post it soon.

What's next? Hopefully, David Rossi's side of the story, but I think I might take a little break from this series and write another JJ/Hotch story that I've been craving to write.

Anyways, I won't be gone long. I'll be updating something or other in the near future.

Thanks to anyone who's been reading. And thanks to my reviewers: **ArwenLalaith** _(yeah I'm a little sad too)_; **star jelly; Confetti Leaves** _(Derek Morgan can make anything romantic. Lol.)_; and **anonymos8.**

See you all soon!


	16. Epilogue

**A/N:** Hello all! Well, this is the end. I've had so much fun writing this story and I hope everyone's enjoyed reading it as well. Let me know what you think of the ending. Thanks!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Criminal Minds:

**Epilogue:**

"So are you ready?" Garcia asked excitedly.

Emily gave her a wry look from where she lay on her bed. "You mean, am I ready to be sliced open? Uh… no."

Emily was about ready to pop. The babies were due pretty soon, but their doctor had decided a caesarean section would put less stress on the babies. And that was scheduled for the next day.

"Uh… I think she means are you ready to be a mother?" JJ corrected, who also happened to lay by her side.

"Oh," Emily replied. "Yeah, I think I am. Actually… I can't wait."

She was definitely excited. She couldn't wait to find out if she was having daughters or sons, or one of each. It didn't matter to her which it was. But, she couldn't wait to be surprised nonetheless.

Layla let out a happy sigh from where she sat at Emily's make-up table. "So many babies! It's going to be cute city in a little while."

They laughed with her at her enthusiasm.

"Speaking of cute city, how are Jack and Henry taking the whole pregnancy? Are they happy they're getting a baby sister?" Emily wondered.

"Jack is. He never wants to leave because he thinks his baby sister will arrive without him," JJ said, amused. "But, I don't think Henry quite gets it. I think he just thinks his mommy's getting fat."

"So cute," Layla confirmed.

"Well," Garcia said, shutting the small suitcase she'd been filling. "You're all ready for tomorrow."

"Thanks Garcia," she said appreciatively.

Garcia came over to pat her hand. "No sweat. I'm glad you're having babies and all, but I can't wait until you're tackling un-subs again."

"Me too," Emily agreed. "Though, tackling is more Derek's style."

They all smiled appreciatively at the mental image, when the door suddenly opened.

"Speak of the devil," Garcia exclaimed.

"Huh?" Derek asked confused.

Emily smiled at him. "Never mind, what's up?"

Derek looked around the room full of women. "Um… the foods ready. I've held the guys off as much as possible. Mom's out there keeping them at bay, but if you guys want anything you better come quick."

Layla and Garcia quickly stood; JJ was slower. And Emily stayed put.

Sighing, she told them, "You guys go ahead, don't worry about me."

"Don't worry Em, I'm grabbing you a plate," Derek assured.

They all left the room, leaving the door open. She could hear the sounds of all her friends chatting and having fun. And she longed to be out there with them.

'Soon, very soon,' she consoled herself.

Suddenly, she felt a weird sensation in her lower abdomen area. It was strange but she didn't think much of it. It had happened before, a little while ago and it had gone away.

Ten minutes later, she felt it again, a tightening feeling. This time it was a little more uncomfortable and she winced as she inhaled.

"Are you ok?" Derek asked, sneaking in unnoticed.

"Um yeah…" she trailed off, as she breathed through another pang. "Just some weird… pains."

Derek put down her plate and came to sit next to her. "Em, you're in labour."

"What?" she scoffed. "No way. I'm not due _due_ for a week. My water hasn't even… broke." She winced through another pain.

Derek took her hand and squeezed. "Emily these sound like contractions to me. We need to get you to the hospital."

"Fine, fine," she waved him away. "But just go eat first. We'll go when everyone's done."

She didn't want to ruin anyone's fun. They'd invited everyone over for a nice dinner. She really didn't want to spoil it.

"Emily," he frowned. "We're going now."

Mrs. Morgan stepped into the room. "How's the fo—What's wrong?" she asked when she saw their faces.

"She's in labour and she doesn't want to go anywhere until everyone's done eating," Derek said incredulously. "Tell her mom."

Mrs. Morgan gave her a stern frown.

"You're such a tattle-tale," she told him. "Fine, let's go. But when the hospital tells us it's nothing, I get to tell you I told you so, ok?"

"Whatever you say," Derek indulged.

* * *

Derek grinned broadly at his soon to be wife as she gazed lovingly down at their two newly born babies.

She looked up suddenly catching his huge grin. "What?" she asked suspiciously.

"_I _told you so," he joked, knowing Emily wouldn't scold him in front of the babies.

"Funny," she said dryly, resuming her attention on the babies.

Derek watched happily as Emily kissed each of their bald heads.

Emily let out a content sigh. "So, names?" she said matter of fact-ly.

"I name one, you name one?" Derek suggested practically.

Emily nodded. "You first."

Derek thought about it for a minute. He reached for one of the little bundles. He cradled the little one in his arms, fingering the tiny pink bracelet attached to the equally tiny wrist. "Alyssa Dallas Morgan," he said firmly.

Emily smiled. "I like it." She reached out for her daughter's hand and gave it a little shake. "Alyssa."

"Now it's your turn," Derek informed.

Emily took a deep breath then blew it out. "Ok, meet Serena Harper Morgan."

"Very nice," Derek agreed, shaking the hand with the purple bracelet.

"I can't believe this," Emily murmured. "We're parents of two beautiful, little girls."

"When they get older I am never going to see that bathroom again," Derek joked.

Emily smiled. "That won't be for awhile. They're so tiny…"

After a pretty normal labour—no caesareans, the girls couldn't wait—of about 5 hours both Derek and Emily became the proud parents of two tiny little girls weighing both a little over five pounds.

"Should I go get everyone?" Derek asked, meaning the entire team, plus Mrs. Morgan, Layla, Kevin, and even Emily's mom.

"Uh… can we wait just one minute longer," Emily suggested. "I just want them all to myself for a little while longer."

Derek nodded. He understood. He never wanted to let them go. He stood at her side, each staring down at the baby they held in their arms.

Derek stole a quick glance at Emily and found her looking at him. He leaned down to steal a kiss.

"I love you," Emily murmured.

"I love you, too," Derek replied.

* * *

The End

* * *

Well that's it. I know, it's a little mushy at the end. But, after all the drama I created for them, I think they deserved a little mushiness.

Anyways, I was very tempted to pull a Malcolm in the Middle. You know name the kids something that could go both ways. But, I thought that would be too mean.

Hope you enjoyed this little ending. You'll probably see more of these two and their babies around the end of my next instalment of the For You, Always series, The Rossi Files (very tentative, not even close name).

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who's been reading this and to those who have been reviewing: **Arwen Lalaith **_(thanks for reading; yeah I tried to be as accurate as possible, but not a doctor so…)_; **Confetti Leaves** _(I know, I'm kind of sad it's done too. But thanks for reading.);_** kdzl** _(glad you've enjoyed this; definitely will be writing more JJ/Hotch very soon)_; **FloatingAmoeba **(_lol, well you're here now, that's what counts. Thanks for sticking with this series and reading);_ and **beth** _(thanks a lot for reading!)._

See you all soon with a new fic!


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